Wisteria Eyed
by The Otaku Lady Priya
Summary: She was not a part of their world; neither did she want to be, if she were to be honest. But now she was here and her very existence was causing ripples in the storyline of an already written manga. And with her luck? She'll probably end up exactly in middle of all the shit. {Slow updates and very slow burn} (Slight!Various X Reborn!OC)
1. Chapter 1

**(~Childhood Arc~)**

* * *

Would it be weird to say that I vividly remember how I was born?

Yes?  
Well, it's weirder to experience it first-hand. Especially when it's the second time you are born.

Obviously I didn't remember the first time; I didn't have enough _brain _to even understand it.

But the _second _time?  
I did.  
And it's not exactly pretty.

Warm, sticky blood on the pink flesh of my body felt icky and the cold air outside made me stiffen momentarily. And that was the first memory of my second life as _Miyasha Sarota._

Ironic, how I was named as the very being I didn't believe in.

* * *

**_Heya! _**

**_Please do read this:  
_**_**This is gonna be an extremely slow burn fic (with proper relationship building) and will be a rather OC-centric fanfic with occasional chapters from the POV of other characters. The first 2 arcs in this book will be completely about my OC; and we'll slowly shift towards the plot of KNY, so please have patience and give it a chance! **_

_**Lastly, the main focus of this fanfic is NOT romance**__**— but rather, relationship building among ALL the characters in KNY, not just with my OC but with each other too. In the end, I started this fanfic to cover all the lack of connection, which the manga had (unfortunately) rushed through. Who will die and who will not is still undecided; but I assure you that the fate of many will change in this fanfic. For good or bad, you decide.**_

_**Also, thank you**_**_ for giving this fanfic a chance! It means a lot to me TwT_**


	2. Chapter 2

The first clear sight I had of, after I was born again, was the colossal grey eyes of a woman.

_My mother._  
Her eyes shone with overwhelming love and adoration. And that was the only thing I remember from that day.

As per hearing things, they all spoke in a tongue I couldn't exactly pinpoint. I mean, I knew the language but... I just couldn't figure which one it was. And this continued for my first few days in this new world.

Yes, new world because even though I felt like I knew the language, I was sure as hell I didn't knew this _world. _It felt so... foreign. And not in the reborn kinda sense.

_No._  
It was like, the air was clearer and... different.

I know, I know, I could be living in the countryside or something but it was different. It was as if the air was charged, just like how it feels when you feel static electricity on your skin for the first time. Just like that but sometimes not. And it changed with every person I was near with.

Actually, it was almost with every other _organism_, not just people. Every living thing had a odd charged, _energized_ air around them— is this what they called aura?

I don't know.  
I don't even know how I should react right now, as I was busy doing nothing but sleeping. And even when I was awake, I couldn't think about things without worrying about the humans present around me.

Once, I sat on the playing mat and let my thoughts wander. The humans around me got so worried that I was communicating with some sort of spirit or something, that they exorcised the whole place.

Yes, 'place' because I was not yet familiar about where I was now or how many humans were there, living with me— my senses were still dull and my thinking capability was still quite slow. Maybe because my brain was still developing? Who knows.

The only thing I could understand right now was what I presumed to be the auras that let me know when someone was near.

Still, it was quite difficult to move and over all, roll over. In fact, the most irritating thing amongst all was how I had to depend on others to do everything for me and how I was restricted to a single room so that I couldn't hurt myself.

But that wasn't all; I couldn't remember anything major of my past life yet either. It was, as if everything was hazy... in a fog.

Maybe because I was reborn?  
But shouldn't then my memories be completely removed?

Or was God playing with me because I didn't believe in him in my last life?


	3. Chapter 3

My life as Miyasha was more ironic than anything.  
At least that's what I felt.

I mean, who was I kidding? I was a proud atheist in my last life and in this one, I was named as 'Goddess' in Japanese? Are you serious?

And yes, now I do remember bits and chunks of my past life. Now, I also realized what language we were speaking— _Japanese._

And I was quite ashamed to say, that I realized this fact after a good month or so after being reborn. But I blame that to my baby brain. Or brain of my baby body. Or whatever, who cares? It didn't work and it took me ages to even remember how to do the most basic things.

Like sitting up.  
But maybe the humans (most of whom are just ladies, for some reason) didn't think so. I mean, I would have been surprised too if a toddler of only three months suddenly started sitting upright which it shouldn't be able to do until much, _much _later. But I wasn't one of them.

I was not what they thought.  
Or what this body depicted. I was a bloody nineteen year old girl who loved watching anime and wanted to learn Japanese. Not a baby girl who is among Japanese speaking people with the ability to sit at three months age.

Well, I'll be honest, even that was difficult. And that shouldn't even be called _sitting. _I was just barely able to keep my back straight as I tried to sit up. And I was successful— for whole six seconds.

And those ladies cooed over me for that. Seriously?

Anyway, now that my brain was slowly starting to work properly, I gave my whole attention to recalling whatever I learned or knew in my previous life— as far as I am getting, I am reborn in the past. And not even fifty years back or something— _no_.

A good hundred or two years back, if my knowledge of Japanese history is to go by. Even if it is mostly from the animes I've watched...

Regardless of that, I finally found the best way to think without worrying anyone: by play thinking. Or thinking while I pretended to play.

Even though the 'toys' were not that interesting— they were just handmade dolls and pillows and lots of ribbons. Like, way too many. Who even keeps that many?

Well, that's a different thing that they were the 'toy' I played with the most— or rather, tried applying different knots to. Who knows when that knowledge may help me out.

The only issue was that I didn't remember doing many knots. Hell, I still didn't remember most of the things from my last life. And I don't know if it's because of the rebirth or because of my baby brain.

To be honest, I didn't even _want _to remember about some certain things. Like, how I died. Or my family. Thinking about having a family before this life is just... heart breaking. And I didn't even remember anything yet. I definitely will be devastated if, or rather, _when _I will.

Because I have a feeling I will.  
How?  
Well, life is a bitch. And it loves to watch me suffer.

Anyway, currently I'm just trying to recall the things I studied or was taught, like basic science and laws. The knowledge of First aid was the first thing that came in my mind and damn was that so _vivid_.

Was I training to be some kinda nurse? Or was I just a rough-houser?

Questions, questions, questions.

Too many of these questions.  
But the most important question among all this, is if I even want the answer to some of those?


	4. Chapter 4

I lived in a brothel.  
In fact, I was _born _in a brothel.

My mother of this lifetime, is a _courtesan_, or commonly known as Oiran. That is, those women who entertained men who visited here— let it by music, or dance or their _body_.

And as bad as it may sound, it actually wasn't. The entertainers were, in fact, were treated very respectfully as they were distinguished from the ordinary prostitutes, or rather _yūjo_, in the way that they were entertainers, and many became celebrities even outside the pleasure districts. And my mother, was one of the most paid and respected entertainer in the whole district.

In fact, what surprised me more than her occupation was the fact that she decided to be pregnant with me regardless of her current 'job'. I mean, why? Wasn't a baby just a hindrance in their job?

With that question in mind, I soon realized that I was nothing but an extra mouth to feed, especially since I was too young to entertain _anyone._

_'Not that I want to entertain people.' _I thought, a bit bitterly.

I was not made for these things and I don't even want to be made for these things. And the only way to get out of here was to learn everything as soon as I could and find a source of income to provide my share to the brothel.

With that in mind, I started learning everything and anything I could get my hands on. With my mother busy most of the evenings and nights, I started practicing knitting, remembering all the lessons I took in my previous life.

After a few attempts, my still chubby hands were successfully reminded the art of knitting. And from there, I started knitting small handkerchiefs and scarves.

I also took up koto after some informal lessons from the best koto playing courtesan of the brothel. It wasn't as difficult as one would initially believe, and was rather soothing to the ear as well.

Yeri-san, the one who taught me koto, was very surprised and rather proud. In fact, almost everyone in the brothel were. But it was my mother who seemed to be the most, out of anyone. Her grey eyes shone with adoration and pride.

She was rather beautiful— in fact, she was the most mesmerizing woman out of all the women in the brothel. With her beautiful grey eyes and knee-length scarlet hair, she was a breath taking sight all together. And not only that, but she was quite skilled with many instruments as well as dance and singing.

Over all, she was very talented and I admired her for all she was. The most unfortunate thing though, was that she didn't gave much time to spend with me as the days went by. And because I was her child and almost identical looking to her- my face structure and skin tone, that is— I couldn't just roam around when she was working as men often felt uncomfortable, or rather bitter, when they see that their Oiran had a child running around.

Though, other than my face structure and skin tone, my hair and eyes were a different shade than hers. With my pitch black hair and bluish-violet eyes, I was way more ordinary looking than her. And somehow, I was happy about it since I didn't wanted to attract much attention to me anyways.

Anyway, I continued to learn any skill I could and spent all my time reading books and improving my Japanese. Even though I had the advantage of being an Asian in my previous life, I didn't had the luxury of the perfect pronunciation as the Japanese did due to my Indian accent slipping in.

Yes, I was an Indian in my previous life and I really did love that culture still, even if I didn't remember all of it for now.

I was determined to be prepared for my life here in any and every way possible. The olden times were much more dangerous and challenging than the modern era and now that I have the advantage of foreknowledge, maybe I could prepare myself better.

Hopefully, I don't get thrown into something I didn't ask for again...  
Who am I kidding? Of course, I would.

I was a trouble/drama magnet in my last life and most likely, in this one too.


	5. Chapter 5

Child, in general, was a fairly new concept to her. And now that she looked down at the wrapped bundle in her lap, she was not so sure if she was ready for it. Or capable, for the matter.

Being an Oiran, Mina knew what she was getting herself into. She knew that someone like her who was a famous Oiran of relatively popular and renowned brothel couldn't have time to be a mother; she couldn't even _afford _to let her customers know that she was pregnant with what might be their child.

But it wasn't her fault— she unfortunately took her contraceptive tea at a later date than she was supposed to and didn't thought much about it till she was diagnosed with a child. That was when she remembered taking in a customer right before she took in her late tea.

But with some pondering, she decided to carry on. With some impending discussion with her fellow courtesans and head matron, Mina was allowed to carry on with her unborn child, with only one condition: she was to return to her job as soon as the child was capable to take care of themself. Mina was pleasantly surprised that she was even allowed to keep her child, but she knew why they allowed her so: she was one of the greatest assets of this brothel and moreover due to the fact that this brothel was like a very tight knit family. It was one of the oldest brothel of the country and it had shelter and protected hundreds of females from cruel outside world. And in the kind of business they were, they had to protect one another to sustain a living.

It didn't mean that they were completely acceptable with the situation, but they did begrudgingly agreed.

She gazed down at the baby in the bundle in her lap. With a adorable tuft of raven hair and fair, pinkish skin just like her, the baby born was a girl. Unfortunately so.

She didn't want her child to share the same fate as her. But neither could she stop her child from being subjected to a fate as hers— a fate of prostitution.

Her grey eyes looked down at her child with grief and guilt. Even with the misgivings and the initial uncertainty, waiting for all these months and the painful childbirth had a lasting effect for how she felt towards her child.

"Oh dear, I hope I could promise you a better future than what I have." She whispered to her child softly, as her baby curled herself in the small bundle of blanket.

But it seemed as if the baby might have a brighter future than her own as her little girl grew up to be quite different than them all.

There were a fair number of sleepless nights, she wouldn't lie, but they were far less than any other baby used to have, if she were to go by her fellow courtesan's words. Her little girl was also quite calm and observant- even at the age of only two months.

She cried very less and even tried to convey her words through gestures; though the gestures seemed to be a bit difficult to understand in the beginning. What the most surprising event was, when she sat upright for a few seconds at only three months of age, which even _she _knew was too young for any child to sit up.

But she did it.  
And even looked up at her mother with her big lavender eyes, as if asking if she did it right.

At that moment Mina knew, she may have been blessed with a miracle child. And as time went by, she was only proved right.

Her girl, who she named Miyasha, turned out to be a very calm and sweet child with a knack for reading and learning anything she found interesting. And up until now, she seemed to have learned many new things that a child of three years old shouldn't even be able to comprehend.

In fact, she was able to detect an undercurrent of awareness in those shinning lavender eyes of hers. Not only was she a quick leaner for her age, but was also exceptionally keen and perspective. She even seemed to learn things at an abnormally fast rate, let it be sitting up at three months or talking at only eleven months.

Even though her intelligence had posed some headaches for her and her fellow courtesans, it seemed to be diminished with each passing year as her daughter proved herself to be capable in almost everything around her— let it be knitting, drawing or even playing Koto that she picked up with only a few informal lessons from Yeri-chan.

She caught on the social dynamics quite smoothly, talking to people and getting her way with an exceptional ease. Not only that but she also seemed to possess an ear and talent for music and dance. She could sing very well too but allowed almost no one to catch her singing- not even her own mother, which was a true pity.

But with all these talents and intellect, she seemed to concrete her image of a to-be perfect courtesan pretty well, which saddened Mina. She loved her child dearly and didn't want her to be fated to what she was now and hopefully, she could get away from Here before it's too late.

And maybe, Miyasha knew it too. Her dedication for reading and writing had increased in the past few months than it was ever and it sometimes made Mina wonder if her child really did understood her situation.

Maybe she did, if she was to go by how her baby girl looked upon her peers with a look of sympathy and guilt.

And this, made her wonder if she could ever keep her child with herself. She couldn't help but think how she was meant for so much more than this brothel, something far greater and divine. Even as a child of Oiran, maybe Miyasha could surpass the ridiculing that the society offered to the children spawned off of the paid intimacy services.

Everyone who knew her, seemed to agree with Mina that Miyasha was a blessed child, if not the daughter of the God themselves.

She proved herself to the others once more as she weaved a beautiful set of earrings out of the discarded pieces of old colourful kimonos and ribbons. She even made an matching bracelet and small piece of cloth that she dubbed as a 'napkin'.

She still remembers when her girl discovered these materials, she had made a bracelet seemingly out of nowhere, using some beautiful knots. As the passing by customers noticed them, they demanded for more and this started a new market of thread weaved jewellery that soon her brothel specialized in. She was contributing her revenue to the brothel and she wasn't even past the age of three, yet.

Mina smiled tenderly as she noticed her daughter trying to open her ougi fans gracefully, but failing quite comically. The way Miyasha made faces on her fan as she, rather unsuccessfully, tried to open them made laughter bubble out of Mina. The way her daughter blushed and pouted, made her laugh even more.

"O-Oka-san!" She squeaked, embarrassed at her mistake being caught.

Mina smiled and patted her daughter on her head. With all this intellect and talent, her daughter was still a child and didn't like being wrong or at least, didn't like being caught doing wrong.

"Miya-chan," Mina called her out, softly taking a fan from her left hand a opening it with a grace her daughter hoped to achieve. "Everything has a pace, a flow. No matter how much one may be dedicated, one cannot learn everything on their own."

Her bright lavender eyes stared back at Mina's grey eyes. She smiled, "And it's alright to make mistakes, hm? Come here, let me teach you how to open them properly."

"Oka-san...?"

"Hm?"

"Can you teach me to... dance with the fans as well? Please...?" She looked up at her mother with those pleading lavender eyes.

Mina smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead softly. "Yes. Yes, I will."

Maybe her daughter won't stay with her long, but that doesn't means she can't enjoy her moments with her for now.

"So firstly, you have slowly open the fan with your right hand like this..."


	6. Chapter 6

I hate changes.  
After being jarred back from one reality to another, I started despising changes.

But then again, only change is permanent. And no matter how much I whine, I will have to go through it one time or another.

The most unfortunate thing is when the change comes suddenly and unexpectedly.

That is when people lose themselves; they either let the flow take them over or resist the flow. And if they do resist the flow, they are stuck in a point of no return.

And even after knowing this, I somehow let the river wash me away...

* * *

Spring was almost in, as the snow already started melting gradually and the cherry blossoms of the tree near our brothel started blooming in full force.

Our brothel had recently been given the honor of leading the district's festival parade for the upcoming spring celebration which was a huge responsibility full of prestige.

Our brothel, even though was quite famous before, was slowly gaining public recognition as one of the highest class of Oiran in all of the country.

It was not much of a surprise to me, as I had kind of predicted it since the day my 'products' (just strings of different fabrics knotted together, nothing much, really) gained sudden attention from the merchants who were our current customers at the time.

Since then, the fabric craft went pretty popular around here and instead of making all of the products myself, I just taught the other courtesans and concentrated on other, more important things: dancing and speed.

I know, dancing may not sound like a much useful skill but the way it stretches one's body and increases flexibility, it may as well be equivalent to fighting. Just without the actual muscular strength, though I was trying to build those a little to, but to no avail as I didn't had time nor did I had any means.

At least I could run and work better on my speed so that I could at least make up for the lack of strength. My speed and reaction time was pretty good, if I had to say so myself but I was way more proud of my flexibility— that's a different thing that I was still a child and I ought to have that much flexibility.

"Miya-chan!" The Head Matron, Fujioka, was a strict cookie and very hard to impress or kept happy in general. Lucky me that I was almost always in her good books.

"Hai, Fujioka-san?" I asked softly as I padded through the hallway towards her.

I tried very hard to maintain an image of a hardworking and meek girl, just so I don't accidentally piss them off. Even if I may be a child, there was no guarantee what they might do to me if I become too troublesome.

Even though everyone here adores me, I won't pass it through them to sell me if I do not seem to adjust into their little world. After all, olden times had no such rights as the modern time implemented, or will implement? I don't know how to express things as my 'past' as it is their future and currently mine as well...

A sudden snap of fingers in front of my face broke me from my wondering.

"Did you listen to a single thing I said?" Fujioka demanded, her soft yet strong voice conveyed some very harsh words at times.

"Not really..."

"Then listen now, and listen _**carefully. **_We are to lead the spring festival this year, which is not only a very honorable task, but what might be our only chance to declare our superiority over other brothels."

I nodded along as she entered her room and asked me in. Her room was the most plain and yet the biggest in the brothel. She maintained all kinds of scrolls and papers in her room and kept everything in a very orderly and neat manner that I only wished to achieve. It was like a superpower in itself.

"Sit." She ordered/offered me a sitting pillow to make myself comfortable on, which I did, as she poured a cup of tea for herself.

Of course she didn't offered me as I still was a child and rather disliked the green tea Japanese seemed to prefer. I mean, not only was it _bitter, _but also so _bland _and literally disgusting.

"So... how may I assist you in it, then?" I asked a bit hesitantly, still unfamiliar with the whole process.

"I want you to collect these," she handed me a long, then sheet of paper with several things listed in an orderly and neat way. "And get back as soon as you can. Also, I need you to help your mother dress and do her makeup as you have some steady hands and good interest in it."

Well, it was true. Since I got bored with knitting and 'knotting', I started painting and also tried my hand in makeup that was liked by almost everyone; even the Head Matron herself was impressed, which was a rare feat in itself.

"These... things, are to be collected within today?" I asked carefully, as to maintain my meek image.

"Yes," she nodded her way towards the door. "Go now, or else you won't be able to collect them all by tonight. The festival is by day after tomorrow and I do not want a single thing out of the order."

"Yes, ma'am." I bowed and left the room as quietly as I could. In my last life, I had a bad habit of walking rather silently, which scared the living daylights outta my family, especially my little sister.

It was amusing and nostalgic too, and only because of this familiar feeling did I continue with this habit in this life as well.

_'In fact,' _I looked up from my list towards my mother's door which was right in front of me. _'It feels somehow... me.'_

After all, no matter how much different I may be in this life than my last, I'm still the same. The old me, just in a new body.

And maybe that's what terrifies me.

* * *

The cloth bag around my shoulder was getting heavier and heavier with every new item that I bought and even the shopkeepers were concerned with the weight of the bag as the list of items in my hand was near to completion.

"Here," the kind old lady helped me with putting the red powder away in my bag. Not only was it filled to the brim now, but was as heavy as maybe my actual weight.

"You sure you can carry it, dear?" She asked, with clear concern shinning in her old brown eyes.

"I can!" I exclaimed with as much enthusiasm as I could gather, which wasn't much and even she seemed to have noticed that.

"It's sad how they just send you to buy so many things alone..." she muttered as she went inside the shop to get the change.

"I'm four! I'm not a kiiiiiiiiiid~!" I whined and mock pouted to elevate the mood a bit, which I did successfully if the old woman's amused smile was to go by.

"Hai, hai. Here's the change." She handed me back three coins and patted on my head. "And here's a candy for my little brave girl!"

"Waah~!" I instantly popped the candy in my mouth, which I discovered to be of litchi flavour, my favourite! "Arigato oba-san!"

She smiled and patted me once again. "Now off you go! And go directly back to your house, okay?"

"Hai~!" I waved back as my small, _tiny_ self dragged the heavy brown bag behind myself, huffing and puffing.

I smiled to myself as I was reminded of the story of my childhoo— _**last **_childhood, the three little pigs and the wolf. Or maybe that wasn't the name? I don't remember that much. In fact, everything was like that; I remembered only bits and pieces but even those were precious to me.

I slowly and steadily remembered more and more about my family as well- I had a little sister, who was four years younger than me and so very adorable and brattish. I also remember my mother from last life who was as ordinary looking as any other Asian house maker but damn was she a crazy woman who I loved dearly. I don't remember much of my father though, for some odd reason.

I was almost at the brothel when I felt it, a deep sense of... dread. I felt as if my stomach fell down to my toes and a sudden nauseous feeling held me in its tight grip.

The breath quickened gradually as I took each step towards the brothel and just when I was opening the door, the smell hit me up front.

The smell of _blood._


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning: **  
_Intense scene (blood and gore)_

* * *

Blood was _everywhere._

The whole floor and even the _ceiling _had a few splashes of blood. The walls were dripping with the crimson liquid, still warm enough to continue its motion downwards.

Despite my senses screaming at me to turn around and run, I chose to listen to my heart, which was screaming in panic at the thought of my mother and others.

_'There's only... blood here.' _My mind whispered, as I made my way through the bloody hallways. My slow and careful footing slowly turning into fast and fanatic ones as every room I encountered turned out empty.

Some rooms had the blood stains, as if they were dragged away forcefully, while others were either too bloody to tell anything or just clean.

I took a sharp left turn towards the head matron's room when something suddenly rolled in front of my small feet.

Head Matron's bodiless head.

It was head matron's bloody _head _that rolled in front of me. Her expression was still etched with the terror it felt before disconnecting from its body...

I slowly looked up to stare at the horror in front me. The whole hallway had guts splattered on its walls and floor; blood was blasted through, covering the doors broken from their hinges, in the corner.

Bare foot met with the blood stricken floor as silently as ever, as I inched my way towards the room, mechanically. An eerie sound echoed as I was at the mouth of the door and it was when I peeked inside did I got what that sound was of.

_Chewing._

Two huge figures were tearing the flesh from the bones, making the most horrifying noise of chewing and crunching... of _human flesh._

The whole room was dark from the absence of daylight but the blood and organs splattered through the room could be clearly seen.

And the smell was...

Unbearable

Painful

Horrifying

_**Familiar**_

Suddenly one of the figures turned around and noticed me peeking through. The intestines were still hanging from in between its teeth when he gave a predatory grin towards me.

Suddenly the overwhelming noise of screams and... bullets, overpowered every other sound near me...

_"Di!"_

It seemed to say something but I was still unable to hear it; its lips moved but all I heard was the familiar voices in my ears.

_"You have been nothing but a disappointment!"_

_"I wish you were there."_

_"Di, I'm __**scared.**__"_

My attention snapped back to the present as suddenly as it went away— I somehow had gathered the attention of both the figures, one of which was slowly inching towards me.

_"__**RUN**__!"_

My legs started moving on their own accord, running blindly over the floor wet with blood. The inhumane being had almost gotten to me— but my running took him by surprise.

_'Survive, I have to survive.' _My subconscious chanted, making me move forward with an unbelievably fast pace.

The echoing, thundering footsteps followed; making me run even faster as my heartbeat echoed in my ears.

I took a sharp turn and exited the brothel through the back door, running into the forest in full speed. I had no idea where I was going; I just let my survival instinct lead the path, blindly running without any restrain.

The still melting snow crunched under my bare feet, which was now somehow numb to cold; the snow felt _warmer _than my soul in this instance.

As the forest thickened, the lights from the town turned dimmer and dimmer with each step I took. My legs slowed down in their motion, just as they had started running of their own accord.

The cold air burned my lungs, making me dizzy but I didn't stopped; I _couldn't. _Because I could still feel its presence, the dark void of darkness existing where the soul should be. And that scared me, more than anything.

I was almost at a clearing in the forest when I finally slowed down to a stop. I was panting and shivering heavily, my small body trembling from the change.

_'Change from what?'_

Temperature?

Pace?

Situation?

Life?

_'...I don't know.'_

"You think you outran us, huh kid?" The gruff voice grumbled, making me stumble down the snowy path as I tried to jerk my body towards the voice.

The inhumane being gave me a wolfish grin, his eyes sparkling with a light of insanity and excitement; _**the**_ _**thrill of the chase.**_

I was nothing but the prey here with him being the predator, playing with its prey as it ran for its life; giving it a false satisfaction, a silver string of hope for life which had no end. Watching with cruel satisfaction, as it tried all its might to climb through.

My body screamed in pain, aching with the need to stop— to just _give up._

_'Am I going to die here?' _The thought came as a calm whisper against my raging heartbeat— I knew I couldn't win. No matter how much I tried.

Still, my body inched itself bit by bit farther from the inhumane being; still trying to grab that silver of a thread from the sky.

It chuckled as it watched me struggle, still inching away from him. My face held no expression— I was too exhausted to express anything but my body had its own will; a will to live that my soul was slowly losing.

My arm inched back again— finding no concrete ground but only empty air.

The world slowed down as I inched back again. I could almost _feel _the ground trembling under my body at its heavy footsteps towards me. I look in his eyes defiantly as it grabbed the front of my haori with an animalistic grin.

My eyes felt heavy. I gave one last, mocking grin and twisted my body, falling into the large drop, towards the dangerous river behind me.

It stared at me with an immense glare full of hate and a bloodthirsty aura as the only thing he was left with was a handful of ruined clothes as I plummet like a stone.

I hit the water, what ought to be cold and yet, feel nothing at all.

* * *

**(~End of Childhood Arc~)**


	8. Chapter 8

**(~Training Arc~)**

* * *

_"Di, I'm scared..." those milk brown eyes look into mine, misty just as they once were when she was born._

_"I... I'm here. Don't worry, they can't do anything to us."_

_"B-But Ma..."_

_"She's alive, I'm sure."_

.

_"Wake up... wake up _! Please!"_

_"Di, di!"_

_**Beep. Beep.**_

_"There are too many bullet_—_"_

_**Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.**_

_"_—_nurse! Conduct her immedia_—_"_

_**Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeeee**_—

_"...sorry..."_

_._

_Guns, bullets... pain._  
_Blood on the floor_—_ my head on the blood..._

_...blood from my body._

_._

_"Always protect your sister_, _got it _?" Dark brown eyes smiled down at me._

_"Eh? Why?"_

_"Because elder sister is like a second mother to the younger siblings_—_ always." Warm lips on my forehead, beautiful smile on her face..._

_"...Ma?"_

* * *

The world swam in and out of focus. A restaurant, a building, a flat. Dark eyes, brows creased, lips in a thin line. A woman shouting at my face—

_"Wake up... p-please... I'm so sor-ry..." _  
The last words I ever heard in my past life.

Cold spread from my forehead to my eyes. A shaky breath escaped me.

Light.  
I flinched as the light fell directly on my still closed eyes.

Shadow.  
Kind, but blurry. Silhouetted in light, dust particles dancing around it.

"...Ma?"

My heart twisted.  
Was she fine? Was her eyes as brown as mine was, still? Her laugh? Her hair?

"It... pains to remember." I said, my tongue thick and heavy in my mouth. "I didn't want to forget, I just couldn't— Ma... I love you... I miss you. I'm sorry I yelled and— it wasn't anything you did..."

A cold hand pressed to my feverish head, gently caressing it.

"Shh..." it said, before it replaced the cool touch with that of a wet cloth. I blinked back tears from my eyes, the world coming into focus for the first time.

It's so hard to think around the pain. I felt scattered; a part of me was in the room, a part of me left in my brothel and a part of me still in the restaurant— bleeding on the floor, slowly dying.

"You're awake? About time…"

_"Finally, you're awake! You sleep like the dead, di!"_

Sister...  
For one second, one solitary second of wild hope, it was all a dream; being reborn, the brothel, the blood— the _chewing. _For a second, I felt like there was a chance I could go home again.

"How is your chest?" It... wasn't her voice. It was more... heavier, older.

I slowly woke from the dark, my throat heavy with grief and impression of someone moving beside me. I blinked and took a deep breath— there was pain, too much pain in my body...

"Don't move." The gruff voice commanded immediately as I tried to move— the blanket on me felt too much. To heavy, too hot, too _unreal._

I still felt as if I was in a dream; a _nightmare._

I blinked at him slowly, but owlishly as he did the same— a bit more subtly than me, though.

"...Four cracked ribs," he started, his eyes turning sharper as he continued. "Fever, critical blood loss, concussion, large claw wounds on your chest, a broken arm and large amount of scratches and scrapes. What _**happened**_ to you, child?"

He looked at me with a number of emotions in his eyes— pain? Horror? Surprise? Pity?

"Who did this to you?" He asked carefully, his voice turning softer as each word fell from his lips.

_**Chewing.**_

_Two huge figures were tearing the flesh from the bones, making the most horrifying noise of chewing and crunch_—

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, even as the pain in my body rattled me through— _I just wanted_ _to erase those __**nightmares**__._

No. I was not doing this.

I tried to get up; move my body up and away from wherever I was— I didn't know how I got here, but I refused to stay.

As I finally managed to sit up, the blanket fell off my torso, uncovering different clothes than the ones I was previously dressed in. It was a rough cloth, un-dyed and unrefined— a few sizes too large for my small four year body.

"Child, _lay down._" A large, warm hand gently pushed me down. "You are in no shape to even _**move**__._"

My eyes shifted over to the man, finally noticing him for the first time. He was an average elder man with almost no distinct or outstanding feature— average build, average height, ashen hair and beard with a few white hair poking here and there, giving away his real age.

He was just another guy— that's what one would think, at first glance. But I didn't had the same luxury, because I could _feel._

His soul was like a typhoon— thrashing in unrestrained rage for something I couldn't yet understand. His warm green eyes looked at me with multiple emotions; passing rapidly before I could decipher their meaning.

"...Who did this to you, Child? What's your name?" He asked, his voice softer than I had ever heard from anyone.

"...Ma-ha..." I croaked out, my throat suddenly dry and broken. He instantly held a small pot filled with water near my lips.

His speed momentarily shocked me, but I ignored it in favor of gulping down the water that was offered to me. His large palms soothingly caressed my back, making me feel safe and calm.

"What is your name, child?"

"Miyasha... Sarota Miyasha."

* * *

**_Heya! _**

**_It's the Author-chan here _****_:')_**

_**It's been around a week or two since I uploaded this fanfic from my wattpad to fanfiction and damn! Not only did I got around 16 followers and 8 favorites, but 3 reviews as well! And you guys have no idea how much that means to me!**_

**TaiChiXWarrior:** _**I'm really glad you liked it! I can't wait to upload more for you guys! (^o^)**_

**Guest:** _**Thank you so much for giving this fanfic a chance! (/^w^)/**_

**Neema-Amiry****_: I'm really glad you liked my work! Thank you so much for the review!_**

**_Thank you so so so sooooo much for everyone who gave even the tad bit of attention to this fic! I really hope to keep updating this book as much frequently as I can, or just do a more bulk update so that you guys have more to read!_**

**_Also, the original arcs (my own written one) will only be two (for the beginning) and then we'll start with the main plot of Kimetsu no yaiba! That means, we'll be meeting Tanjiro and Nezukoin the next arc! _**_**Though this arc will be a tad bit longer, so bear with me! Trust me, these are very important parts as well, as there will be references to her fighting style from these arcs!**_

_**Thank you to everyone who gave this fic a chance!**_


	9. Chapter 9

A hazy fog was all I got whenever I thought about my past life, around a year or two back. But as the time went on, the thick fog became a light mist, allowing me to see through it.

At first there were just lines or random words- spoken by the most familiar yet forgotten voices. But gradually, I started remembering, _recognizing _them. And as much as I did, I started feeling it; the sense of loss.

The sense of _resentment and regret._

My past life wasn't that good, to be honest; scattered and rather unsatisfactory for my past self but for my current self? It was everything.

It wasn't like I forgot the details of my last life intentional or fully; it was more as if I couldn't access them. They were just sitting there, in the back of mind, behind the thick fog— just waiting to be discovered.

And now that I did discover some major moments, I can't resent the timing any more than I already did.

"Miyasha," the somewhat familiar gruff voice broke me out of my musing, calling my attention towards him. The owner of the voice was old-yet-young-looking man Shigeno Koji, who found my unconscious body floating by the river and saved me.

For the past few days (or was it a week now?), he had been tending to me without any complaints.

I hardly had much talk with him except the exchange of our names we had the day I gained consciousness. I was in and out of sleep most of the time and thus, unable to sprout anything coherent enough to make a conversation.

I even started talking in my native (past) language— _Hindi _—or even English, which wasn't completely unintentional, yet couldn't be controlled. After the majority of my memories from my past life recovered— including how I _died _—my mind and soul were in a constant turmoil.

It was as if I was trapped in a raging typhoon; stuck in the middle where the winds are the lowest and watching it destroy everything around me— my past life and the current one all altogether… and what could I do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Just stuck in the eye of the typhoon, waiting for it to tear me apart as it had done with my life.

"Miyasha?" His voice pulled me back to the reality, once again. I blinked and turned towards him, staring at him blankly as my mind still reeled with thoughts that shouldn't be in the mind of a four year old.

"How are you feeling?" He asked carefully, as he sat beside my futon.

"Uhn," My voice came out as a croak. Breathing was like a war; every breath was a fight against my aching yet healing body that my mind wasn't yet used to enduring.

"You want to get up, now?" It didn't escape my notice how ironic this was. In my initial days here, I couldn't wait to get up and out of here but now...

_'...I don't even want to move.' _I thought wryly.

Time was starting to blur together, slipping away from me with every breath. If there was some room left in me, after all the resentment and pain bubbling just under the surface, then maybe I would had felt tired. But as there was not, I was just in grief and pain.

Grief of losing my family in both the lives.

Resentment towards the _God _who played with me still; keeping me alive just to live with the pain daily.

And finally, the pain of losing everything, again.

And even after all these emotions, I still felt numb; as if these feelings were not my own.

My past life was scattered and ordinary, but still enough and somehow mine. In fact, even this one was eccentric and not that brilliant either, but it was still mine. I still lost them; my life, my family, my... mothers.

I silently nodded, letting him help my small body in the mere task of sitting up. He gently moved the blanket and futon aside, letting me stand up completely on my own pace. He then proceeded to check my chest wound which was surprisingly healed almost completely.

Though, it was somehow more to my surprise than his, for some reason.

"Come on, get out in the Sun. Sitting in the dark for so many days hasn't done any good to you." He said as he gently tugged my hands. I followed him silently as he opened the door and encouraged me to sit down on the mat he has spread through the yard of his house.

"Where are you from?" He asked carefully, after a few minutes heavy silence.

_'Where indeed am I from?'_

I didn't know, or maybe I didn't want to know. It's like my memories were merging together into an incoherent thought— too blurry, too unrealistic and somehow my reality.

"...Are you feeling okay?"  
He peered at me; his kind green eyes reflecting slight hesitation.

"...I... don't know." I responded honestly, eyes blinking blankly over the shadows casted by our bodies.

I didn't know. It was like my feelings were jumbled and somehow...  
It was as if I felt everything through a layer, through a _filter. _Everything felt unreal and dreamlike— just as if I was living in an aftermath of a _nightmare._

A sudden hand on my head distracted me from my thoughts. As I looked up towards the man who was patting me, he smiled softly and combed back my hair with his large fingers.

"Do you have anywhere to go? Your home? Do you know the name of the place you live?"

'_No...'_

I felt my breath hitch.

_'...I don't have anywhere to go... I can't go back...'_

"I... have nowhere... else... to go." I slowly said it out loud, making it more real than it should be.

Before anything further could be said, a sudden yell broke through the silence that followed my confession.

"OI! OJIISAN! WHERE ARE YOU?!" A loud, yet child-like voice yelled out of nowhere. A different but quieter tone followed by, the words indistinguishable due to its low volume.

The man sitting beside me sighed, making me look at him curiously. Did he know these intruders?

"HITOSHI! HIROSHI!" He suddenly yelled, making me jump at his unexpectedly loud tone.

A chorus of two 'Yes, ojiisan!'s could be heard in the distance which was soon followed by two pair of rushed footsteps. Two boys, older than my current body, emerged in the yard. They were slightly out of breath but their excitement made them vibrant and bright.

"Ojiisan! You know what happened?!" The boy on the left asked excitedly, looking starry eyed at the man sitting beside me. "We killed the demon who was terrorizing the village nearby!"

"Yes!" The other boy agreed excitedly, "And it even had a blood art where it coul—"

"D-Demon...?" My voice broke at the single word I never thought could be real.

All three of the males turned to look at me, with varied expressions— the oldest one being worried while the younger ones still excited.

"Yes!" The boy gave me his best grin. "We killed it together before the break of dawn!"

_'Demons... B-Blood art?!' _My mind echoed the three words I had heard long ago, in my previous life.

_'I-I...'_

The sunlight outside suddenly felt too hot, the air too thin and my breath too short. I tried getting up, but my legs refused to cooperate.

My vision blurred as the memory of those two inh— _Demons _eating flashed through.

_'...am I-I...'_

* * *

"_**Go further! If you're a man. If you call yourself a man! There's no other way to go but forward!"**_

_**.**_

"_**The weak have no rights or choices. Their only fate is to be relentlessly crushed by the strong!" **_

_**.**_

"_**I swear your big brother will save you no matter what!" **_

_**.**_

"_**The bond between Nezuko and me, can't be severed by anyone!"**_

_**.**_

"_**It's only natural for demons to defeat Humans."**_

* * *

I slowly looked up at the humans near me; the elder male was soothingly rubbing my back whereas the younger ones looked at me with expressions etched with worry.

_'...in an anime...?!'_


	10. Chapter 10

Ancient soul was a concept that he had only heard in the passing— maybe in some folk tale?

Truth to be told, Koji never believed in it, neither did he bothered to understand what it actually meant. But this girl— this little one made him wonder.

It was by mere chance that he went over the river bank that day— it was particularly cold that morning; even the Sun was reluctant to get out of the cozy embrace of the clouds, but he felt uneasy— as if, something was calling him.

His instincts had never failed him, and thus, he never ignored them. That time wasn't an exception either.

He strolled through the bank of the river; remembering how he had found her— beaten, battered and bleeding through her kimono and yet, she still managed to drag herself out of the river to the edge of the bank. Her spirit was that of a warrior— one that even he wasn't sure he could train.

But it wasn't just her fiery spirit— her blood too, was distinct from any other human he had ever treated. A bit too thick; a tone too lighter and the smell— it was not the copper-ish one he was used to.

She was more than just a human— maybe not a demon, but not a mere human either, that he was certain of. Her demeanor only supported his beliefs— and so did the healing power of her body.

She was a blessed one or the 'ancient soul' that he heard about— even if he didn't believe in either of them, this child made him wonder.

He looked at his boys— Hitoshi and Hiroshi training and laughing, just as any boy their age. His lip curled into a soft smile, thinking about his own time as a trainee.

The vigorous training and his vicious master who didn't let them rest until the breath style was engraved in their bones— those were the days he missed and yet still wondered how he survived. Even when the actual selection rolled around and he had been the only one standing through, though he never expected himself to be.

Now when he thought about it, he never expected or really wanted to survive; the pain of losing his peers was too much, and yet that was what kept him moving against every demon he had to slay.

Though, his peers were the only ones he remembered being close to because he didn't remember much of his family; he may have had a younger brother and parents, but his memory didn't assure nor confirm him in the slightest. The only thing he did know, was that he was attacked by demons when he was among the other laborers and apparently he was one of the few survivors, only making it through due to the demon slayers arriving at the right moment.

And the next thing he knew, he had suddenly found himself among the few students training under the 'Cultivator' and the rest was history that he hardly bothers to remember any longer.

But now that he was a Cultivator himself, he wondered how his own students will do.  
Specifically the little girl.

With every passing day, she recovered her strength. In the beginning, her violet eyes were as blank as a slate— but as days passed by, she seemed to gain her emotions back, bit by bit.

It was almost amusing to him how she gained life back into herself— the first emotion being disbelief upon the knowledge of existence of demons, which was soon followed by shock and strangely enough, rage.

He had observed several emotions fleeting through her expressive violet eyes in that single moment— it was endearing and somewhat mystifying. How could a child of such young age feel so many emotions and yet, not ask a single question, no matter how stupid?

_"This is not my world. I am not meant to be fighting_—_ or to be here, in fact."_

The words left her small mouth in the gravest tone that a four year old could have, when asked if she would like to train with them. And even though it was not much surprising to him, his students were more than just startled.

"What do you mean by that?! Who doesn't wants to be a demon slayer! Don't you want to help people?!" Hitoshi yelled, taking a step towards her. Miyasha stared at him— her eyes ablaze with a suppressed rage that sent a shiver down Koji's own spine, even though he would never admit it.

"Help, huh? _Help, you say?_" An unfamiliar accent seeped into her words as her voice dropped an octave, making it even graver. _"What has any human ever done for me to risk my life for __**theirs**__?"_

The emotions in her voice, coupled with the look in her eyes spoke more than anything she had ever told him— there were no trace of tears and yet it was as evident as the Sun in the clear sky.

She was grieving.  
And it wasn't only because of the loss of her loved ones.

She had lost some of herself somewhere there too.


	11. Chapter 11

I remember my initial reaction when I had discovered I could feel auras around me— I thought I was (re)born in a _new world._

But then I dismissed the idea a few months later; my still logical, science-student brain was adamant on the impossibility of such occurrence. The concept of rebirth and _living _through it was something my logical mind was yet to even accept, but now that I knew I was reborn into an _anime world, _I couldn't even wrap my head around it.

In fact, I didn't even fucking want to.

I was confused, pissed and fucking furious— why was it _me? _Or let me ask a better question: _How the fuck was this even possible?_

Is their so-called-God so bored that _**they**_ started writing a bloody fanfiction with me in it, huh?

Keeping resentment and anger aside for a moment, I still couldn't believe I was in an anime world— especially the Demon Slayer.

No wait, it was Kimetsu no Yaiba, right? I still didn't get how they translated that into _Demon Slayer. _As far as my knowledge of Japanese went from this lifetime, it's supposed to mean 'Sword of annihilation', if we were to go by its literal translation. How the hell did they ended up making Demon Slayer out of it?

Fuck that— why was I even _born _again? I was good as dead. Why reincarnate me? And in an anime world, of all places?

It was at least believable if I was reborn in the past— but _no. __**They**_ had to make me rebirth in an anime world whose knowledge _I already had._

What the fuck do _**they**_ want with me? To 'protect' the characters that came out of someone's imagination? Fuck, I'm actually living in a world that's someone's bloody _imagination._

_**And I was not even supposed to exist in THAT imagination either.**_

Then why?  
What's the use?

Did they want me to 'intervene' like in those bloody fanfics my little sister used to read and babble about? Because if that's the case, then they can fuck themselves with a holy stick— I would _not _intervene in the plot —if it indeed is an anime world, as I was assuming.

I was not yet sure and there still was a chance that this might be a different world or that the humans I was living with were a scam and/or delusional.

Hopefully it's the latter part, because if it's not, I'd rather walk off a cliff than intervene with the shitty game _**God **_was playing with me.

Now I understand why people believed in God— it's much easier to curse and blame an entity for all your existence and maybe I'd start doing that too; regardless of the fact he exists or not. And if he actually doesn't...

...I'll love to meet the being who decided what cards I'd be dealt in life and have a _**very **_long chat about the inadequacy of the job they had done so far.


	12. Chapter 12

It'd been a couple of months since the _revelation_, and I was yet to get any kind of proof other than the words of the humans around me.

It's not that I thought they were lying— I _know_ they were not lying. I could feel bloody auras— so it was little to no issue about that. In fact, the issue lied within myself; my inability to trust the irony of my luck.

I mean, which otaku hadn't dreamed of going to an anime world, at least once?

I did too (of course), but that's a complete different thing that the anime world I wanted to go to, was with a lot less danger than this one.

Regardless, I continued 'training myself' through yoga and the karate moves that I vaguely remembered from my last life— only the kicks and punches though, unfortunately.

This was my only way of reassuring myself that I had at least some part of my life in control.

My young body was really adaptable and its abnormal fast healing factor helped me through a lot of things— my joint and body pain (due to yoga) went away pretty quickly. In fact, I could even perform the yogas that my last life body refused to cooperate for.

But after practicing the same moves and poses weeks after weeks, I had nothing left to 'train' myself with. I couldn't train with Hiroshi or Hitoshi either because of how rudely I had brushed them off earlier and the fact that my body was a little too young to actually go through the training they had to do. It wasn't my intention to offend them though; I just wanted some time alone, especially after going through a major existential crisis. Though, neither of them seemed offended- only one of them seemed a little... troubled?

I mean, I couldn't say for sure; those two looked too similar to even distinguish which one was which, reading their similar faces was a feat of its own. And their auras were quite... mellow in itself, so it wasn't much help either.

Apparently, they were twins and _**seven**_ years older than me, which was kind of unbelievable since they were much shorter than what eleven year olds' should be— at least that's what I think.

Brushing that aside, I was still trying to find a solution to the dilemma of my lack of 'training' material when I overheard the aforementioned boys being lectured by Koji.

Koji was sitting on the porch of the temple we lived in— yes, it was a temple, apparently Koji's teacher had been some kind of priest —and talking, louder than usual, about... breathing?

"Total Concentration breathing enables your body to gain the strength it needs to beat a demon by accelerating your blood circulation. Just remember to take a long breath as you brace your lower half and relax your upper body." His gruff voice commanded over the boys.

And that made me have my first 'Eureka!' moment— I had completely forgotten about the breath styles and techniques used in the anime and manga! I remember being so fascinated with it; not only were they scientifically true, but also practical and I had even (kind of) practiced it myself in my last life— though it was only through pranayama.

Maybe I should start practicing it in this life too; my body is still young and that might give me the edge I needed for my lack of strength. And if I could master performing it full time like Tanjiro did, then- wait, did that... mean I really was in Kimetsu no yaiba?

.

.

I didn't know what was worse— (finally) having some kind of proof regarding the world I was in or my mind still refusing to believe it completely.

* * *

I never imagined how hard it was to actually breathe deeply. Not only did it need huge amount of concentration, but it also made your head ache and dizzy if taken too many too fast.

In short, my first day of practice was absolutely disastrous.

"You are doing it wrong." Koji's gruff voice called out, as he stood near the sliding doors of the room I was given.

I jumped as my body registered his aura so near me— I was yet to get used to his strong, stormy aura. His aura almost always felt like a gush of cold wind swirling in a huge typhoon and yet somehow calm and safe as if... I didn't know what to even compare it to.

I stared at him— waiting for him to continue. I had been practicing (rather unsuccessfully) concentrated breathing before going to sleep— I was even sitting on my futon, in the lotus position for that.

"You need to concentrate on it; not just breathe deeply. Concentrate on how your body expands as you breathe in, how the blood flows through your limbs; feel it." Koji's quiet voice echoed in the small, mostly empty room.

He sighed at my blank look that followed his advice, "Near the river bank, just as the dawn breaks— only, if you really want to learn."

He then proceeded to exit the room, with a slight thump of the sliding door closing after him. I stared at the— now closed —door, wondering what actually happened and if I really should go tomorrow.

I didn't want to be a demon slayer— hell, I didn't even want to do anything with the plot, let alone get involved in any element regarding it.

But then again, if demons really did exist, I needed to be prepared too. Agility and flexibility wouldn't allow me to actually defend myself. It barely enabled me to escape my death the last time.

_'And I don't believe luck to ever provide a next time.'_ I thought wistfully as I diverted my attention to my usually cold hands.

_'Were those beings... really demons?_' I thought back to my last day in the brothel.

Were they really demons? Or just cannibals?  
Were they even real? Or just a figment of my imagination I fabricated to protect myself from the gruesome details?

Was... any of this true?  
Or was it just a cruel dream— a game played by _**them**_?

* * *

Even after a month of the arrival of the spring season, the cold refused to leave from this region— I was yet to know where Koji's temple was actually situated. All I knew was that it was on a hill and surrounded by other hilly regions. And the scenery it offered was no less beautiful. Even from the river bank, the dawn breaking looked breath taking.

_'Now that I think about it,'_ I mused as cold, yet soothing breeze ruffled my hair. _'I don't even know much about any of the ones I'm currently residing with, let alone the place I am staying.'_

Especially the twins.  
I was yet to even know which one was which— both were almost indistinguishable, keyword being _**almost**_.

The only issue? I'm yet to find the _**almost**_ part. Though I was sure about one thing: they weren't Koji's blood related children or grandchildren. They looked too different from him, especially with their tanned skin and somewhat sharp face beneath all that baby fat, which was quite unlike how Koji looked with his vaguely rectangular face and unusual pale skin.

While thinking this, a voice called me from behind, "You didn't sleep the whole night, did you?"

Shivers went down my spine at the feeling of his stormy aura— though this time, I wasn't surprised. I felt him approaching a few seconds before he actually did.

"How...?" I gave him a bewildered look at his question— which was stated more as a statement than a question —how did he know that anyway? Our rooms in the temple were in different directions!

He gave me an amused smile and patted my head as he sat down on the ground in front of me. "It's too early to get up on your own, when you aren't used to getting up at this time of the morning."

"Oh." That... actually made sense.

He smiled softly at me, "Did you practice the total concentration breath?"

"I did, but..."

"But?"

"I cannot seem to be able to maintain it for more than two minutes. And when I stop doing so, I experience immense pain in my chest and feel very dizzy..."

"That means your posture is not right while doing it. Show me how you practiced last night."

I sat up cross legged in the lotus position and kept my intertwined hands on my lap. With my eyes closed, I proceeded to breathe in deeply.

_'I hope he doesn't mind my cross legged posi_—_'_

"_**Concentrate.**_"His gruff voice, hardly a few centimetres away from my ear, made me jump in surprise. I didn't expect him to be this near-

"Don't open your eyes. Just shut your brain for the while and let your body dominate. Feel the flow of your blood and the passage of oxygen throughout your body."

I did as he said— concentrating on my deep breathing and imagining the flow of its path.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my stomach, slightly pushing it in. "Brace your stomach. Let it contract when you exhale and expand when you inhale."

I did as he said and felt my body temperature slowly rise. My mind was clearer and more aware than it ever was.

"Now, stabilize your spirit and evenly distribute it throughout your body. Relax your upper body and brace the lower one."

Gradually, I let my upper body go lax and tightened my legs. My mind was clear and I could easily feel all the auras near me: of Koji, birds, animals and—

I immediately broke my posture and moved away from where I was sitting. Koji looked at me bewildered before two bodies came crashing at the place I previously sat. Fortunately, they were jerked back through the hem of their kimonos before they could fall into the river nearby.

All was quiet for a few moments till a bubble of laughter escaped me. It came out as an ugly snort and before I could stop it, turned into a full belly laugh. I covered my face with both my hands while trying to at least muffle my laughter; it took me an eternity to calm down and stand up straight.

Hitoshi and Hiroshi just _crash _landed together— in the most anime way possible —and Koji looked so _done _with them that it was just too comical.

I looked up- all of them were taller than me— and titled my head. The younger males looked at me with widened eyes while the older male looked at me softly.

"Eh?"

Koji just smiled and smacked the twins upside their head— which was a very anime move on his part. The twins grumbled as they rubbed the back of their heads and flattened their brown hair down— it was messed up pretty bad.

I kept snickering as Koji scolded them with an unwavering smile on his face; along with a vein pop when they offered excuses for their late arrival.  
Looks like my life will be pretty interesting for the while, with these three around.

* * *

_**Heyyy xD**_

**_Okay, so I have decided to upload all the leftover chapters that I haven't uploaded here. Once I'm on 'level' with my wattpad book, I'll start uploading the newly drafted chapters I wrote since last week. _**

_**I really really hope you guys are safe and obeying the quarantine rules... **_

_**It's getting worse, I know, but we will get out of this soon, trust me. Let's just focus on being healthy for now and let the professional handle the rest. Till then, stay safe. **_

_**And those who have online classes like me**_—_** I know your pain :')**_

_**Other than that, here comes the reply for the reviews:**_

**xenocanaan****: _Heya! I'm really glad you are enjoying the fanfic! I can't wait to upload more!_**

_**Other than that, my next upload will be tomorrow- two chapters, one continuing this timeline and the other one will be of the Academy AU we see the snippets of in Manga and Anime! Hope ya like them!**_


	13. New Teachers

**!Highschool Omake!**

**New Teachers?**

* * *

The integrated middle and highschool, Kimetsu academy, was an academy filled with problem students. Let it be the boy with earrings- Kamado Tanjiro, or the boy with blond hair— Agatsuma Zenitsu.

There were also some very popular, yet interesting students like Kamado Nezuko, who was a girl with French bread in her mouth and Shabana Ume, who is one of the three most beautiful people in the school and have also said to set the record of getting twenty confessions a day.

Even the teachers were no less interesting than the students, with Tomioka Giyuu being the strictest gym teacher one could ever find and Uzui Tengen being the 'explosive' art teacher of the academy.

Any exciting event in the academy became the new hot topic of the town— and so it did as well, when a few new teachers joined the academy.

* * *

"Have you heard about new teachers joining in today?"

"New _teachers_? As in, plural?"

"Yes! And it is said that two of them are a pair of twins!"

"Wah! That's so cool! Are they young?!"

"Yes! And very handsome! Or at least, that's what I have heard. Oh! And you know—"

"What's with all these whispers and gossips about new teachers lately?" Tanjiro asks his fellow classmate and friend, Zenitsu who was busy scribbling down his science homework.

"You are always so clueless, Tanjiro..." Zenitsu sighs, "Rumors are going around that the new family that moved in last week is going to teach here at our academy."

"A new family moved it here?" Tanjiro asked, blinking innocently. Zenitsu just sighs and deadpans at him.

"Well, a family of four moved right down the street last week and some people have said that they noticed a pair of twins. That's what got everyone so worked up. And since a new week started today, everyone is eagerly waiting for them to show up here."

"Oh! So are they going to be our science teacher?"

"...we don't need _two _science teachers... and I don't exactly know."

* * *

The day ended with the usual loud ring of the bell, but unlike any other day, students didn't run off to get out of academy as soon as they could. Instead, they all made a crowd near the principal's office.

Noticing half the population of the academy there, Tomioka Giyuu decided to see what the case was— and to usher away the students out. But before he could do that, the door to the principal's office opened to reveal a young woman, kindly smiling at all the students in front of her.

Everyone— he as well as the students —froze as the women with bluish-violet eyes emerged fully. It was as if she was glowing —her skin was naturally pale with a light tint of pink around her cheeks. She looked beautiful and somehow, young. Too young to be a teacher, if Giyuu was to be honest with himself.

"Good evening, minna-san." Even her voice was serene and soft, making all the female students melt and male students an instant fan.

Giyuu, after finally finding his voice, blew his whistle loudly and yelled at the students to dispatch for their respective homes.

Meanwhile bluish-violet eyes stared at him, none too discretely, as the students grumbled and dismantled. When Giyuu turned to the said woman, he noticed clear amusement in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but was suddenly interrupted by the office door being opened again, followed by an unfamiliar baritone.

"Miya, please tell me they are gone— I ain't in mood for any crowd, right now."

"Ah, the crowd dispersed— this gentleman here helped me with the issue." She gave him a close eyed smile, making his heart skip a beat.

_'What is wrong __with__ me_—_'_

"Ah, Giyuu." the principal Ubuyashiki Kagaya, was a soft spoken man and yet all the students as well as teachers loved and respected him. Not only was he very wise and clever, but kind and a very futuristic man. He smiled as he noticed the slight blush on the face of his gym teacher- to any person not familiar with the young man, he would seem indifferent, but Kagaya knew better.

"This lovely woman here," Kagaya introduced the bluish-violet eyed female, "Is Sarota Miyasha. She'll be starting as our academy psychologist and nurse from tomorrow."

Miyasha smiled and bowed to the man in front of her. "Please take care of me, senpai!"

_DA-BUMP!_

Giyuu's heart skipped again— and this time, he was sure something was wrong with his heart.

"And the young men here," Kagaya continued introducing, "Are Kinomiya Hitoshi and Kinomiya Hiroshi."

Hitoshi and Hiroshi were the infamous twins that had been the hot topic of the academy before they even arrived— and with their good six feet height and handsome faces, they would definitely be the talk of the town for a good while.

"Heya, man! Nice to meet ya!" Hitoshi's booming voice matched his enthusiastic, yet tired grin whereas his brother just nodded with a sincere smile— a complete opposite from his competitively louder twin.

"Hitoshi here," Kagaya pointed towards the louder one of the twins, "Is going to teach science from tomorrow onward and his brother Hiroshi will be the Maths teacher who will also be joining us from tomorrow."

Giyuu nodded, focusing back on the principal after giving the twins nothing more than a fleeting glance.

"This young man here is Tomioka Giyuu, the gym teacher of our academy. He maintains the decorum of this academy and is very strict about rules and regulations." Kagaya smiled fondly as he introduced Giyuu.

"Nice to meet you, Tomioka-senpai. Hope we get along!" Miyasha chirped, but was ultimately- and unexpectedly for her- ignored as Giyuu just... left. Without saying anything.

"That was just—" Hiroshi started.

"—rude." And Hitoshi finished.

"Forgive him please," Kagaya apologized for him. "He's just a bit...forlorn."

Miyasha stared at the back of her apparent 'senpai', wondering if this is whom she should be starting her counselling with, in this academy. Because to her, he honestly seemed to be in dire need of some attitude readjustment.

* * *

_**Heya!**_  
_**Hope ya like this chapter!**_

_**I've decided to make such bonus chapters here and there, whenever I can or when I am going through writer's block :')** **Though if you want me to make one earlier than I would naturally, just message me or leave a comment asking for it!**_


	14. Chapter 13

Okay, this is ridiculous.

Let me start from the beginning— I'd always hated fanfictions, especially since they just butchered up the plot or made the characters so OOC that it was nothing but cringe by the end. Not to mention half of those so-called writers didn't even knew how to adapt an OC into the series.

But that didn't mean my little sister had stopped suggesting me the fanfics she found to be good. To appease her, (and my own curiosity) I read them. Some were cringe-y but some were indeed good.

The first time I watched Demon Slayer with my sister, it was still on-going; not even the first season was completed. Of course we turned to the Manga after that. (More like I did and my sister made me recite the whole of it to her later.)

And after we (read: I ) finished all the chapters of the still on-going Manga, my sister turned to the fanfics and the old ritual started again.

And strangely enough, every fanfic that she suggested me had an OC who was either an ice pillar or a demon.

Like, why?  
Did all the elements disappear or was your imagination too small to make a pillar of earth or some metals or _**anything **_else? I mean, love or snakes ain't much of an element either— make a pillar out of anything! Why only ice?!

And the same, I wanted to ask to the so-called God of this world.

I remember feeling that my life as Miyasha was more ironic than anything. And now, I could say that again.

Shigeno-sensei was the retired snow pillar.

It's not exactly ice per say, I agree, but it's almost the same and I just can't take it seriously.

Being in Kimetsu no yaiba was a thing, but being in this fanfiction-ish part of it was absolutely different.

And why wasn't he mentioned in the manga if he was a previous pillar? Or why weren't Hitoshi or Hiroshi either? Were they not significant characters? Or were they just... dead?

Maybe the real Miyasha wasn't supposed to be alive either. Maybe she was to be killed by those demons and that's that. Maybe I'm altering the plot by just _being _here.

And that thought is somehow terrifying in itself.

* * *

"Miya-chan! You shouldn't be loitering around here!"

I turned to the elderly voice scolding me, "I will be fine, ojisan!" I stressed my words with a slight huff at the end— as expected by a five year old, such as myself.

There was a small yet beautiful village down the hill— the people here were really kind and somewhat superstitious. But, then again, we were in the olden times.

The old man turned towards me to smack me upside the head and would have landed another smack if I wouldn't have ducked out.

"Itai!" I exclaimed, more for expressing my so-called pain than the actual pain— he didn't even hit me that hard and I know it was intentionally done as such.

"Tamaki-kun!" Obasan suddenly appeared out of nowhere, making the both of us jump in surprise, "don't hit poor Miya-chan! She was just helping me with the pots. And you shouldn't hit her like that— she's still a child, a girl at that!"

And that was what infuriated me the most; people here treated me as some kind of fragile vase just because I was a child— and _**girl **_at that.

"So?" Ojisan shot back, "She's intelligent enough to get what we say to her, isn't she? Then, she should follow it too. I don't care if she's a girl or a boy or a child— no one is safe when the Sun goes down."

And that's what I love about Tamaki-san. He was a good and kind man— just lacked the emotional output of his actual feelings. He worried too much about me but still respected my decisions and treated me like any other human— not just a glass doll.

Obasan sighed and patted my head. "As much as I want to disagree with him, he is right though, Miya-chan. You really should return now." She looked at the darkening sky, covered with coral colours of the fading sunlight.

"But- were there not many other pots left? I can help you load them into the cart!"

"Yes, you can." Ojisan cut obasan off before she could reply, "But tomorrow. You help us old people a little too much."

"What he meant to say is that we are very thankful for your help dear! You have no idea how much you have helped us today— half the cart is already loaded because of you! We can do the other half tomorrow, okay?" Obasan said sweetly as she smiled down at me.

"But-" I tried to pursue them to let me help but ojisan interrupted me.

"The delivery is due for the next week." He said sternly, his brown eyes staring holes into mine. "You can help with it later. Now return back to the temple."

Tamaki-san was a tough cookie, and he looked every inch of it. From his white hair and greyish moustache to every wrinkle on his face— he looked very much like the fierce soldier he was in his younger days.

"Uh, okay sir." I bowed and tried to bid my farewell quietly—

"Be safe." Ojisan spoke up suddenly, making me look up at him. "I want you here back tomorrow when the Sun is up our heads, am I clear?"

"Yes, sir."

He went inside as soon as I replied, making obasan smile at our interaction. "Don't mind him, okay? He's—"

"—bad at showing emotions?" I completed her sentence, making her nod her head in agreement.

"Anyway, you can come here any time tomorrow, okay? And if you don't want to help or are tired, do tell us! We will never force you into doing anything! Now go, the Sun is almost down, go!"

"Yes, ma'am." I smiled and gave her a quick hug, before departing for the temple.

It's been almost half a year since I started staying here.

My concentrated breath practice was going very well— I still found performing it during my sleep a bit challenging, but otherwise it had proved to be very beneficial for my body.

My mind was clearer and wider as well as my senses could detect auras quicker than before. My body felt very clean and somehow strong. Though, I'm yet to see any prove for the strength part.

And with too much free time on my little hands, I focused myself on learning the basics of survival. Like cooking or treating the wounded. Even though I knew first aid, there weren't any actual medicines available in this era to use my skills with.

So, the only skill I had at this point, was running away. And that was unacceptable.

I had nagged Shigeno-sensei into teaching me how to make some basic medicines from some specific plants. He was very surprised when he got to know that I knew how to stitch wounds or even stop the bleeding. The only issue was that I couldn't exactly show him, since I had little to no stability in my little and still chubby hands.

Though, knowing how to do it still counted, right?  
That's a different thing I couldn't say that about cooking.

I had to learn almost everything from scratch due to the lack of actual utensils I was familiar with (from the future, remember?). And most of the food being Japanese didn't help either, as I was very much unfamiliar with the process of making them, even if I knew some of their names.

So for that, I took help from the villagers and they even gladly helped.

In exchange for their teaching, I helped them with anything I could— watering their plants, helping them in the field (though it wasn't much), carrying things and many such odd jobs which were easy to do and kept me on their good side.

Though there was something strange about this village- there weren't any children here; most of the residents were either elderly people or people who were in their early thirties.

I had tried asking them before, but unfortunately that had only ended up either being ignored, or simply answered in circles. And even though my brain didn't found this fact too bothering- my gut sure did.

And that made me wonder if I even really wanted the answer to my question.

* * *

_**Heya people~**_

_**Here's the second chapter I promised yesterday xD **_

_**Now, with this chappie over here, we are at level with my wattpad book! So, that means that now I can start with the new chapters! Thanks for everyone who has stayed up until now!**_

_**Now, for the reviews- I got FOUR review in a single day! OWO **_

_**You guys legit made my day yesterday!**_

**Mitsuo the Universe jumper:_ (Pst, I love your name! xD) Thank you so much for the encouragement! You have no idea how much it means to me! I really hope you like these chapters as well!_**

**Guest:**_** You honestly made me grin for the whole day TwT Thank you so so so much! I'm really really glad liked it this fanfic so far! And I really hope I do not disappoint you in the future!**_

**xenocanaan:_ I am really happy you liked the last chapter! Hope you like these two too! ^w^_**

**Einklley:**_** Wait, you are here too xD Okay, okay, jokes apart- I absolutely love your support and I have no words to show how much I appreciate your patience and consistency with me TwT Your kind comments has really given me motivation! Thank you so much!**_


	15. Chapter 14

Even though the dark did not seem to scare me, the forest at night sure did.

It was like something sinister lurked there, and maybe it was just the basic embedded fear in me speaking, but I would rather avoid it just in case.

The most unfortunate thing was that my aura sensing highly diminished during the night— in fact, my whole body kind of felt... numb. As I trained more and more, it was apparent that my overall performance somehow felt duller in night in comparison to the day.

_'Maybe because I'm tired?' _I mused, making my through the forest. The temple was on the other side of the hill, making the journey over a good mile long. And even though it may not sound much to some, my little body was yet to get used to the amount of exertion this hike demanded.

I heaved a sigh in relief as soon as the temple came into my view. The Sun was almost down and even the sky was turning into a shade of obsidian. The stars hidden during the morning came into view, twinkling merrily.

I was almost by the gate of the temple when I felt it— a heavy, almost smothering aura.

No, it was not just an ordinary aura.  
It was way heavier— almost like a... like a hole. Too concentrated; it was way too concentrated to be like any normal—

"MIYASHA!" My body was jerked out of the way, the sudden motion surprising me.

"W-What—?!" I was tossed again; the small hands on my stomach gripped me tightly. By the time my mind came to it, I barely noticed whose arm I was in— no, the creature in front of me took most of my attention to itself.

And even though its ashen skin and slender frame was not familiar to anything I had acquainted before, its strange inhumane-ss and smell of death did remind me of its kind.

"De-Demon...?" my voice quivered, barely above a whisper.

The arms around me dragged me along itself— relocating us to a safer distance as another body attacked the demon.

I felt a shiver down my spine as I felt its aura flair— it was as if the already concentrated aura further densened. The arms wrapped around my stomach tightened almost smothering me into its sheltering embrace.

"It's okay, it's okay, don't worry Miyasha..." the voice soothed, making me realize how boyish it sounded and how small the arms around my waist were.

"Hi-Hi—"

"Hiroshi." He answered, whispering in a voice which sounded too stable to be of a child. "And don't worry, Hitoshi and ojisan will handle it. Just stay hidden here with me."

The sound of growling snatched my attention, making me focus on the fight going on before us.

The bush behind which we were hidden was one of the larger ones in the yard of the temple, hiding the both of us perfectly. Hiroshi's grip on my waist tightened further as the fight in front of us turned more intense.

The demon was rather lanky; looking as slender as an unnatural paper doll. Its mossy hair though was the one that made him look more inhumane— especially when it enlarged and started producing vines as extensions.

Though, one may even compare those to tentacles and not get it wrong, as those moved and behaved as sloppy yet efficiently as a pair of tentacles. Which was worrying because Hitoshi was gradually slowing down as the speed of those vine-like extensions increased.

The mossy extensions attacked Hitoshi from every direction, engulfing him slowly while closing all his possible escape routes. But Hitoshi looked confident— even his panting didn't seemed to deter his strange enthusiasm as he yelled out a war cry and slashed all the vines collectively in an impressive amount of speed.

He then proceeded to jump towards the demon— maybe with the intention of cutting off his head? —but seemed unable to do so as it produced the double amount of vines and stopped him mid-attack. This time though, Hitoshi could not cut those extensions properly and was caught by those thick mossy vines.

Hiroshi gasped, his hands slightly shaking while looking at his twin's situation.

"Go, save your brother." I whispered, my voice coming more horse than intended. Hiroshi tore his gaze away from the fight and looked down at me; his bluish green eyes glinting with the unvoiced question. I nodded my head silently, patting his arms around my waist.

Hitoshi, on the other hand, did not seem to fair well. Newly regenerated vines covered the young boy's struggling hands, cutting off the chances of him swinging his sword at the demon. But before anything else could happen, a swift green shadow swept through— cutting off all the vines and the demon's forelimbs.

Hitoshi swiftly pulled his brother away from the demon, detangling him instantly as the demon in front of them growled— in pain or annoyance, I don't know.

Hitoshi flipped over— jumping away from the demon as it attacked. Hiroshi followed him like a shadow and stood parallel to him, as if a mirror image.  
That was when the actual show began.

Both brothers attacked simultaneously, their speed seemingly greater than before— their identical green shadows looked like after-images to me. Their look-alikeness made them difficult to keep track of who was who and the attacks kept going on.

When the demon did decide to attack with its vines, one would instantly cut it while the other will keep trying to directly attack the demon— which the demon would barely dodge. Their sync in attack and defence almost made them look perfect— the only issue being, that they still were humans. I could see the exhaustion taking over them; their pace slowed down gradually, making my heart race in anticipation.

Unfortunately, the demon noticed it as well, reviving its attempts even more.

The tables turned when the demon attacked one of them in the stomach— which the other twin tried to defend but got injured himself as well. Both tumbled to the ground— one with a severe wound in the guts while the other with a bleeding shoulder.

I gasped involuntarily, watching both of them getting up instantly after they were wounded— how old were they again? Eleven? How could they... why... they were still children...

My heart slowly broke as I watched them fight— watching them practice was a different thing but watching them fight while being injured and with a risk of _death _on their heads made things more real than they should be.

Suddenly the demon's vines from the back of its head dug under the earth, making them almost undetectable.

My eyes widened as I felt its aura spread through the earth with its vines, towards... "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I yelled loudly, gaining both the brother's attention, making them jump back from their position as a vine attacked them from underground. Hiroshi and Hitoshi relocated, trying to scramble away on some high ground, away from the earth.

A sudden scream tore away from my throat as I was once again jerked away from my position— this time, by the demon's vines instead of the comforting arms I was familiar with.

The vines coiled around my small frame, dragging me through the earth carelessly as my body kept knocking on the rocks and bushes. I tried my best to resist it by grasping something to hinder the strong tugging but everything ended up futile.

The closer I got to the demon, the harsher its grip got; it felt as if it was trying to kill me by coiling around me like an anaconda. Breathing was becoming more and more difficult— even my vision started blurring as he dangled me upside down, the grip of those vines as strong as ever.

I tried to resist them as much as I could, but my small frame refrained me again from exerting the force I demanded from it.

My vision slowly blackened as the harsh grip around me suddenly loosened, though the pain increased as it did— making me give out one last scream before accepting the hand of the comforting darkness of unconsciousness, where pain could not follow me.

* * *

**_Heya! _**

**_I'm back! And no, I did not ghost you guys again xD_**

**_It just took me longer to edit the chapter than I thought :') _**

**_Any-who! I really hope you guys liked my sorry attempt at fighting scene- but I swear, I'm learning! Or at least, practicing. Trust me when I saw that this chapter has been revised more than ten times, lol. _**

**_Now, on with the reviews~_**

**JKKak:_ Aw, that's very kind of you! I'm really glad you liked the last chapter- and about Giyuu, I'll bring him after quite a lot of chapters, BUT there will be a few easter eggs regarding him that will make their relationship more dynamic~ I really hope you can find them by the time we meet Giyuu and the other pillars because that indeed will be very essential to the plot!_**

**Mitsuo the Universe**** j****umper****:_ Aw, you are too sweet! It's only you guys who keep me motivated enough to keep uploading... And that is quite an interesting concept behind your name- How I wish I had half a brain to keep such a cool name too xD_**

**Einklley:_ Aww, (i'm doing this 'aw' thing a lot, ain't I?) I really really wanna hug you so much right now ^^ Thank you so much for your support and I'll definitely ask you guys if I ever needed any opinion! Also, YOu stay safe and healthy as well!_**

**_I really really really hope you guys liked this chappie! _**

**_If you did or even if you didn't, please leave a review so I could know! I'll love to hear your opinions and improve my writing skills as much as I can! And thank you so much to everyone who has favourite-d and followed this story!You guys are the best!_**


	16. Chapter 15

They were always different from others, and they knew it— they saw and felt it as well, especially when people kept pointing out how similar they were.

At one point, it was all they were ever told— how similar they were, how similar they worked and how similar they _**should be. **_Being different from one another was out of question for them, especially when even their own families treated them like one entity.

Hiroshi used to wonder if their mother even loved them individually. Did they had an identity beyond each other? Was his desire to be different from his brother... wrong?

Hitoshi sympathized with his brother, wondering about the answer of the same question.

It wasn't like they didn't love each other— how could they _not_? After all, they were a part of the same soul. Working with one another was way simpler because it didn't feel like they were working with a different person. And maybe that was the reason why they couldn't let others into their circle.

But ojisan was somehow different.  
And even though Hiroshi and Hitoshi missed their late family, they were somehow, somewhat glad of the fateful day when their family...

...was massacred.  
It was wrong feeling this way, they knew, but they couldn't help but appreciate the day because they met their kind teacher, who understood them better than their own parents and never compared them; nor did he expect them to always act similar to one another.

They were free of the bounds that held them forcibly together, and were now given the space to breathe; to explore themselves.

Hiroshi was glad to be the more quiet one, leaving the vocalizing part to his twin who was very happy to open and loud. Indeed, they both were part of the same soul - but not the perfect equal halves.

But Miyasha... was not someone they knew how to deal with.

They stood frozen as they saw the demon strangling Miyasha— her small frame struggling to free itself from the vice grip of the creature on her small body till her last breath was exhausted. And Hiroshi, for the first, saw what ojisan meant by the spirit of a warrior.

Suddenly Hitoshi ran towards the demon and rotated clockwise on his left leg, tucking his right up against his chest before striking out at his full power at the demon with the heel of his shoe. That resulted in an impressive— and rather disgusting —_squashing _of several of the demon's vines around the base of his head.

In the split second that followed it, four things happened simultaneously.

The demon yelled in shock and sudden, pain due to its extensions been suddenly destroyed. Ojisan cutting off the demon's head in a smooth, clean cut. The demon's grip on Miyasha loosening, causing her body— still somewhat wrapped in the demon's extensions —falling towards to the hard ground and Hiroshi running at his full speed to catch Miyasha's falling body.

Thankfully, her body fell exactly on his lap; the damn demon had her small body hanging from a good few meters above the ground. Hiroshi immediately started unwrapping her delicate frame from those despicable vine like things.

By the time he tore those demonic vines off of her body, she was already unconscious.

"Take her inside, _now_." Ojisan ordered, his voice stern with worry.

And for the first time in eleven years of Hiroshi's life, he didn't wait for his twin to come with him.

* * *

"W-Will she be okay?" Hiroshi cursed himself for his stutter— it wasn't like she was dying.

"She will be," the older male confirmed as he entered the twins' room. "But it'll take her some time to. She doesn't has much damage, thanks to you catching her Hiroshi, but has faced some wounds due to been dragged around."

"We are sorry for not acting fast, ojisan..." Hitoshi whispered the apology for the both of them, looking down at his hands in his lap as he felt guilty.

"Life is a fickle thing, Hitoshi, Hiroshi." Ojisan started, looking at his students sternly. "Life can easily slip away from ones' hands and yet, can also fight to survive through the harshest of conditions. The priority you should have during fighting a demon is not just to kill it, but rather protect the humans around it from harm as well. You are equipped to protect yourself, others are not. And even though life is stubborn in its play, it is delicate enough to slip by without the reasonable attention. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ojisan." The two twins chorused.

"Hitoshi," he called out the name of the elder twin, making him stiffen. "You started fighting without any regards of the location or the possible people around there, putting the humans around you in jeopardy."

"Hiroshi," The younger twin stiffened slightly, not looking up to meet his teacher's eyes. "You did the right thing by removing Miyasha from the line of sight of the demon, but failed to remove her from the battlefield and to protect her."

"Not to mention you two were slowing down and could not reach closer to the demon to cut its head." He sternly looked at both of his students. "You both also failed to notice its vines' movements properly - Miyasha had to shout to get you two out of its attacks' way, and she is not even trained."

Both the twins lowered their head in shame, looking properly chastised.

"However," they looked up slightly, as their teacher's tone of voice changed, "You both showed impressive amount of coordination and even though the first form was a bit off-key for you Hitoshi, you both did good. You had a good grasp of the third form though, Hitoshi, and the strength you showed in defending yourself at the end was beyond impressive. Hiroshi, your display of protection was very admirable, though a bit lacking as I mention before. Other than that, your performance of all the forms were impeccable and on-spot."

Hitoshi pouted and Hiroshi slightly blushed under their teacher's praise. Shigeno smiled at his students, proud of their achievements, but also somewhat disappointed. "I hope you two now know what to do, do you not?"

"Yes, ojisan!"

"Then, I'll look forward to sparring with you two, the next to next week." Shigeno watched satisfactorily as his student's faces paled significantly.

"Shouldn't we get a little bit more time... Ojisan?" Hiroshi asked nervously, as he looked at his teacher's somewhat evil smile.

"No."

Hitoshi comically slumped as Hiroshi lightly chuckled at his twin's antics.

"She'll be fine though, right?" Hiroshi asked once again, when the atmosphere became sombre.

"Yes, she will." The strange finality in their teacher's voice did not escape anyone's notice.

* * *

"Wait, You mean she's finally gonna join us?!" Hitoshi asked excitedly as they made their journey back to the temple from the riverside.

"Not with you both," their teacher stated soberly, "But yes, she will start training."

"Why not with us?" Hiroshi wondered out loud, making his teacher turn to him and answer, "Because you two are way ahead of her. And she's..."

"She's what, ojisan?"

"And she's different, Hiroshi. She's much too different than you two."

"So, she'll be trained separately?" Hiroshi asked simultaneously as Hitoshi blurted out, "So, she finally wants to be demon slayer?"

"Yes, she's going to be training separately, Hiroshi but no, she doesn't wants to be a demon slayer, Hitoshi. At least not yet."

"What?" Both the brother chorused, making their teacher sigh in exasperation.

"She is still adamant about not wanting to be a demon slayer, and has been refused to learn the snow breathing technique," Shigeno huffed, annoyance clear in his tone. "But she agreed to learn swordsmanship; she did not wanted a repeat of what happened a few days ago."

"Are you sure you want to train her, ojisan?" Hiroshi sharply inquired, making Shigeno frown in confusion.

"What do you mean, Hiroshi?"

"What if she uses your training to harm other humans? Or worse, turns into a _demon_?" He reasoned, making Shigeno proud at his student's sharpness.

"That is indeed something to worry about, but I don't think she will be doing either of them."

"How," Hitoshi frowned, confused at his teacher's unwavering belief in the girl's ability. "are you sure? She even refused to help people!"

"True, but she is helping us for more than a few months, is she not?" Shigeno explained as they almost reached the temple. "She also cautioned you both of the demon's attack, giving her cover away just so she could help you, didn't she? I was there when it happened, so don't deny it."

As they neared the entrance of the temple, they noticed the subject of their conversation walking towards the same destination as them, but from the opposite direction, carrying what seemed to be a basket full of vegetables and a cloth bag on her little shoulders.

"She may seem a little too harsh for a child but she is not unkind. Her words may state otherwise, but her acts will always shine through her protective lies." Shigeno remarked, as he moved forward to help the little girl with her luggage.

* * *

"What do you think about her, Hiro?"

Hiroshi turned in his futon to face his twin. The moonlight from the window made Hiroshi's face glow, highlighting the greenish hue of his bluish-green eyes.

"I don't know, Hito. She's too..."

"...Mature?"

"Yes! And so... responsible for her age. She's not even five and yet her eyes seem as if she just, knows more. More than anyone." Hiroshi vented out his thoughts in the open, knowing well that his twin will never judge him for it like the others.

"...What if she is what ojisan claims her to be?" Hitoshi mused, "You know, old soul? You have seen how she looks at us, did you not?"

"Yes, Hito... Yes, I did." And that is what unnerved Hiroshi the most. That indifference of hers towards everyone was so...

"...unsettling."

"What?"

"Her indifference to us or anything unusual is so unsettling. She didn't even ask a question when she saw us; it was like- like she already knew! Like she knew what we are and she never looked at us twice... and she never even..."

"Never even what?"

"I don't know, confused between us? Or called us? She never called us by our names and just... I don't know." Hiroshi sighed heavily as he laid on back and stared the ceiling.

"Maybe she isn't supposed to be like them..." Hitoshi mumbled.

"What?"

"Maybe," Hitoshi started out a little louder than before, "She's not like others. Maybe... she's a separate group in herself, you know? I mean, she's so different than us, too."

In their whole eleven years of lives, they had only knew two groups of people- them and everyone else. And Miyasha didn't fit in any of those two. Because maybe, she was just another group on her own.

"Do you think there are people like her out there? You know, the ones who won't treat us different because we are twins...?"

"I don't know, Hito..." Hiroshi answered honestly, "But I really, really want to know more about her now."

"Me too, Hiro, me too..."

* * *

**_Okaaay! _**

**_We are almost at the end of this arc! Two or three chapters more and we'll meet Tanjiro up! _**

**_I'll catch up to the anime version of demon slayer first and then slowly shift to the manga - though both are pretty similar, anyway._**

**_Expect another chapter by today (or tomorrow, lol)_**

**_And here is the answer to reviews!_**

**Einklley:_ I'll be very honest, your reviews help me a loot, thank you so much! I really have no words to describe how much I appreciate your help ^_^ Thank you so much for giving this fanfic a chance! _**

**_Other than that, thank you so much to everyone reading, following, favourit-ing and reviewing! You guys keep me motivated and help me to write!_**

**_Stay safe and stay healthy, folks!_**


	17. Chapter 16

"_**Wake up, Miyasha."**_ A vaguely familiar voice firmly ordered in my ear.

"GAH!" I woke up suddenly, yelling and rolling off the futon in fear. But when two giggling voices greeted me instead of Shigeno-sensei's yelling, I instantly threw the pillow in the direction of the sound.

"Oomph!"

"HA! Looks like my aim ain't that bad after all!" I gloated as a still giggling Hiroshi helped Hitoshi off the floor.

"Nah," Hitoshi disagreed, "Your aim is as bad as before. It's just that I tried to deflect— that's why the pillow hit me."

That caused both of them to dissolve into giggles again, making me glare at those two brats.

Since the day when the demon suddenly popped up in our temple yard, the twins have not left me alone for a single day. Nope. They have been following me around and 'teaching' me stuff because they thought I needed 'help'.

Well, to be honest, I actually did.  
They helped me a lot with the training part too— especially since I accepted the offer to do some under Shigeno. Or Shigeno-sensei, more like.

"Why don't you call him ojisan, like we do?" Hitoshi asked one day as he was showing me the ten forms of breath of the snow.

"I... am not much comfortable with it, yet. Forgive me if it felt odd to you all..."

"Hitoshi, your posture is off. Don't be so stiff while doing the fourth form— it needs the full flexibility of your body..." Hiroshi commented offhandedly from the branch he made himself comfortable on, "And Miya-chan..."

"Yes...?"

"Why is your speech so formal?" Hiroshi asked with a strange sharpness in his eyes. I initially stiffened momentarily under his unexpected sombre gaze, but soon forced myself to loosen down.

"I was taught to speak as such... I was not exactly aware it was considered formal." More in the sense that I actually forgot— my main concern for the while was to just stay alive and to learn the basic surviving skills, speech and behaviour was not exactly a priority until I needed to pretend.

"You always spoke like this?" Hitoshi gushed, "That's so cool! Was your family noble? Or priest like ojisan?"

"No," I firmly denied, wondering for a moment if it was right to open up to them. "I... I was born in a brothel."

Waiting for the impending questions, I quietly looked up to their faces— only to see visible confusion etched onto them.

"What..." Hitoshi started, as Hiroshi ended the sentence with "...is a brothel?"

I stared at them for a solid five minutes to see if they were joking, but they honestly looked lost.

"You... honestly don't know what a brothel is?"

"No." They chorused innocently, leaving me with the responsibility to explain what a brothel is to them.

_'I think it was wrong of me to think that they would know about_ _it__...' _I mused as the brothers suddenly gathered around me. _'I mean, they indeed are __children__ and not to mention, Japanese people are always more on the prude-r side.'_

"Okay, let us first start with the basics; are you familiar with how babies are made?"

"No..."

"...That is where we will begin from, then. So, babies are human infants who are conceived when—"

And that, was how I helped them in return— with my knowledge and advises. The twins were very attentive too, I am not going lie, but a little too curious at times.

Not that I hated their curiosity— no; it was just a tad bit at the wrong times. Not to mention they had almost zero social skills to begin with.

"Toshi-senpai..." I sighed as he turned to me with a genuine look of confusion, "We don't ask if someone had sex so directly or publicly..."

"But why not?" He asked, "I mean, are we not made by that? You were the one who said it was a very natural thing like eating or sleeping!"

I sighed again, shaking my head at his innocent question. "Sex is a very... private thing. Just like how you don't let anyone touch you _there. _It's a very private thing and that's why people feel very shy and flustered to talk about it."

"Oh..."

"And remember what I said the number one rule about it?"

"To always ask for consent!"

"Good. You should ask for 'consent' when you ask someone about it too. Also, try avoiding to talk about it to anyone who is not close to you, got it?"

"Yep!"

It took me quite a bit time to adjust properly into my life into the temple— but as soon as I did, I actually noticed how messy it was.

And how much these three males needed a mother. Including Shigeno-sensei, sometimes.

* * *

"How do you know I'm not Hitoshi, Miya-chan?" Hiroshi asked suddenly one day while helping me in the kitchen.

"Because you are not him...?" I answered uncertainly, a bit taken aback by his question.

Hiroshi was always somewhat weary of me, for some reason. That was why it was very surprising for me when he offered to help me in the kitchen instead of Shigeno-sensei, who was out in the village for his usual petrol.

The reason why the nearby village did not had any children or was so isolated, (that I finally found out from Hitoshi) was due to the abnormal number of _marechi _being born there - in fact, half of the villagers had that specific blood type, causing them to be one of the favoured food by demons. Which was as horrifying as it sounded. This was the reason why the children in the village, as soon as they were born, were sent to a temple near the wisteria garden and were educated and taught there till they were adults. And that was why Shigeno-sensei went on patrolling around the village at odd times to keep an eye on the villagers— because even though everyone had a bag of wisteria, he didn't wanted to take any chances.

"What I meant was, how do you know it's _me, _not my brother? How do you know who is who, even when we don't tell you...?" Hiroshi stared directly into my eyes, sincerity and somehow a slight desperation slipping into his bluish-green eyes.

"You... both are similar," I started carefully, diverting my eyes towards the soup cooking in front of us. "But similar is not equivalent to being same. You both have some distinct features too, like how you are quieter and more observant than Toshi-senpai, and how you always prefer to stay in rather than going outside... And your eyes are different as well."

"My eyes...?" He blinked in surprise, "My eyes and Hito's eyes are same in colour...?"

"Not really," I bit back a smile as he looked at me with genuine interest. This was almost the first time he ever let his guard down; even if not much. "Your eyes are greener than Toshi-senpai's... And more open too."

"...open?"

"Hai, open." I stirred the soup over, checking if the vegetables were not left uncooked, "Your eyes talk more than you do, Hiro-senpai. But Toshi-senpai's eyes are more on the bluish side and seems colder than yours... maybe because he 'talks' more than you do."

Hiroshi stiffened significantly as I continued, "You both may seem similar, but are very distinct, senpai. Almost contrasting, especially when you both fight together... or stand together against the world."

"What do you mean?" He asked firmly, his voice dropping a few octave. It was very interesting to see how an eleven year old can be so mature and protective of his brother.

"What I mean to say is that not everyone is against you, senpai." I gave him the brightest smile I could manage, "We are with you, standing beside you two. Though, you could only see us if you both ever looked beyond each other."

"...So, you are telling me to leave my brother?"

"I'm telling you nothing, senpai. I'm just suggesting you to, maybe, look beyond the dependency you have on him. After all, you both are two very distinct humans, even if you may have a connection no one else can share or understand."

Hiroshi stared at me with an intense look in his eyes— just like everyone in the manga, these two were also the victim of their time. And the saddest thing was to see it happening in front of my own eyes.

I decided to move on and get some work done; "The soup is done! Let's call Toshi-senpai and Shigeno-sensei and start ea—" I called out, but was interrupted by Hiroshi.

"It's hard to believe you are only four." He offhandedly commented, his demeanour suddenly turning very casual and laid back. It was almost like he found out what he wanted to, and was satisfied with it.

"I'm actually five now." I mumbled out in reply as he poured the soup in the bowls I brought and helped me carry the smoked fishes.

"Wait, your birthday passed? When?"

"A few weeks ago...?"

"And why the hell did you not tell us?!"

"...You didn't ask."

And that was how I received the first smack I ever had in this lifetime.

"Hey, stop fighting! And Hiro, we shouldn't hit girls!"

* * *

All the craziness aside—  
(Well, that would be putting almost all of my both lives aside, but oh well.)

My training was going well.  
Even though I had outright refused to train to be a demon slayer and to even learn the breath of the snow, I was still shown how they did it and how to perform it. I mean, I have no interest in doing anything with the plot and was planning to leave this temple as soon as I could— but maybe training was indeed needed if I didn't wanted to end up being some demon's snack.

Hitoshi seemed to struggle with the forms a bit, but Hiroshi's forms were smooth and beautiful— but just as dangerous, if not more.

One thing I noticed though, (which kind of disappointed me to no end) is that the techniques _**didn't unleash any actual elemental attack. **_It was just an illustration in the manga or anime to make the attacks look cool— and that fucking boiled my blood to no end.

I mean, you bloody mean to tell me that these sword techniques are just fucking slashing of swords and _**that's it?**_

"Concentrate, Miyasha!" Shigeno-sensei's voice brought me out of inner musings, making me block his incoming sword with mine. Shigeno Koji was a very dedicated teacher and a damn good observer. And maybe that was how he could teach a daydreamer like me at all.

I was at a stage where I still practiced with my wooden sword; and since I was not learning the forms of the breath style, Shigeno-sensei just went on to teach me the basics of how to fight with a sword.

And I kid you not, it was way _more than just slashing as they showed in the films._

Not only your hands or arms, but your whole bloody body worked and moved during a single swing of a sword and watching it may be very empowering, but doing it was more tiring than anything. Especially for my five year old body. Shigeno-sensei's ruthless training didn't help much either.

It was like, he never hesitated to hit me whenever he found an opening _even once. _And even though it was good for my training, the soreness my body had was almost not worth it.

* * *

**x**

* * *

"Ojisan, are you not being a little too harsh on her...?"

"No, Hitoshi. She needs this."

"But she's only five! You didn't started training us like that since we were almost eight..."

"She is different, Hitoshi. And I don't think she will learn anything if I do not force it into her bones. She thinks too much and always tried to find the easier way out of doing things; if I don't teach her to work hard from now, she will never start and will always try to opt out of things as much as she could."

* * *

**x**

* * *

"This is stupid... Why are we to climb such a steep mountain in the middle of the night?"

"To meditate in the morning." Hiroshi replied, his eyes shining in amusement. Since that day in the kitchen, (when I got my first smack for this lifetime) he started behaving more and more casual and somewhat attached to me, which I necessarily didn't mind until both the twins kept bugging me like no other.

It was like I was their source of entertainment at this point.

"Meditate...? Were we not doing it in the temple, these past few weeks?"

"It's different under the waterfall though." Hitoshi replied casually.

"_**Under **_the waterfall?!"

* * *

"AACHOO!" I sneezed loudly as I lied on my futon miserably.

"I think we shouldn't have started that part of the training this sooner..." Shigeno-sensei mumbled as he changed the cold cloth on my forehead.

Yeah, like _**no shit, Sherlock. **_

Apparently sensei trained his students to meditate and maintain their concentrated breath under the high pressure of the waterfall, so that they could get used to doing it under extreme conditions.

Turned out that I passed the supposed lesson on the very first class. (Since I've been practicing it full time)

But unfortunately, my body didn't.  
And now I was as sick as I could get. For the first time in this lifetime too, surprisingly.

"But you did very well though, Miyasha." Shigeno-sensei praised, as he pressed the wet cloth on my forehead again. "I can't say I expected you already to master doing the concentration breath all day long before today's training."

"Here's the rice porridge!" Hitoshi suddenly declared loudly as he opened the door for Hiroshi, who brought a large bowl of rice porridge on a tray.

I tried to sit up, but my hands trembled under my body weight and almost made me topple back onto the futon.

"Shh, let me feed you!" Hitoshi claimed as sensei helped me sit up properly.

And before I could even say anything, he suddenly stuffed a spoonful of warm porridge into my mouth, almost making me choke.

"Hito! At least ask her first!" Hiroshi scolded Hitoshi loudly as he smacked his twin's hand, "Let me feed her. You go on and do something else."

"Ojisan! Hand over the cloth! I will do that!"

"You won't do that properly either."

"Ojisan, Hiroshi is bullying me!"

"...you two are about to be twelve, don't act like five. Otherwise I will give you twice as much training as you both already do."

The silence that followed sensei's statement made me giggle loudly. Maybe change wasn't that bad after all.

But that thought went out of the window as Hiroshi spoon-fed me the porridge— it had absolutely _**no taste. **_  
Did they even put salt in it...?

"Did you," I asked as I somehow swallowed the porridge in my mouth, "put salt in it?"

"You put salt in porridge?"

...  
How in the name of Heaven and Hell did these three survive these past few years?

* * *

_**So, here's the chappie I promised you in last chapter~!**_

_**A really long one, I know - and most likely almost all chapters will be long like this one. Hope you don't mind! (Comment if youdo!)**_

_**Sorry it took time, but I have to prepare for my Constitutional law viva for tomorrow, lol. Wish me luck xD **_

_**I really can't wait to get over this arc and start with the next one! Especially since we'll meet everyone there! **_

_**Anyway, onto the reviews now!**_

**Einklley:**_** I absolutely don't mind your comments! I know how to take criticism and honestly, your comments help me more than anything! I can also actually imagine you as Giyuu after you pointed it out-! Anyway!**__** I didn't thought you would notice that xD Honestly speaking, I kinda made it intentional. I mean, I didn't (And most likely won't) show how young they were when Shigeno saved them, but they were pretty young and had picked up most of their speech pattern by then. However, they also learned to speak formally (or rather, semi-formally) from their teacher, who himself speaks in a semi-formal way half the time due to being practically brought up by his own master, who was a priest.**_  
**_This is why they sometimes can't control the transition from casual to somewhat formal. Miyasha speaking in a very formal way doesn't helps them much either. I'll clear it up in next chapter more clearly, if needed!_**

**_I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter! (I know most of the people ain't reading this, but oh well!)_**

**_Please review if you want to - I love reading from you guys, _****_and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D_**


	18. Chapter 17

It's strange how used to one becomes to something as the time passes— even if you may think at one point in your life that you cannot live without something, you still get used to living without the said thing once enough time had passed away from it.

The same happened with me— after twelve years in this new world, I finally (somewhat) felt like a part of it. And majority of it was thanks to Shigeno-sensei and the twins, who never lost hope in me. After all, I dis knew how stubborn and know-it-all I could be.

"You're done with the dishes, Miyasha?" Sensei asked suddenly, breaking me out of my musings.

"Hai, sensei." I replied gingerly as I rinsed my hands, "Did you need something?"

"I wanted to talk to you regarding your training." He answered rather casually as he exited the kitchen, "I'll be in the yard— come in when you are ready."

When I'm... _ready? _  
What the hell was this crazy old man up to now?

I mean, sensei was a very good man and a great teacher, but he was very random and unpredictable in his acts— which made him very _very _difficult to read or handle. Even after training seven years under this man, I was yet to even get used to his mannerisms. At least I could proudly claim that I was better than the twins, even though those two stayed with him way longer than I did.

A nostalgic smile spread on my face as I thought about those two numbskulls; their birthday was just around the corner, and I really hoped they visited the area once. Or at least, sent their crows in with letters or something.

It had been a good eight months or so since their final selection and damn I'm so fucking glad those two idiots made in— but felt low-key scared for them as well because they were now in the front-lines.

That's how much of an idiot I was— attaching myself to people who could easily die before their time due to them being in a 'profession' where they needed to lay down their lives to fight with things that were way beyond their capacity.

_'Ironic how you miss them more than the family you left behi_—_'_ I clamped down on that thought before it could be completed. I didn't want to think about my past any more than I already did; especially when my future was so uncertain— scratch that, even my present was not so certain either. Anything could happen at any moment and I still didn't feel confident enough about the idea of handling any situation on my own...

Regardless of that, I made my way to my room to retrieve the nichirin swords— I was given those to train with just a few days after I had turned twelve. And yes, swords as in _plural _because for the past seven years, sensei had trained me in dual wielding— wielding a sword in each hand, especially when he noticed that I had a strange imbalance while wielding with either of the hands separately. It was a very strange realization for the both of us; though, it did confirm a lot of things for me.

I was a right-handed person in my last life and I continued with the same habit in this one; but unlike my last life, my left hand in this body is much more... stronger? It was like Miyasha (not me, but the girl who was supposed to be born instead of me-) was supposed to be left-handed. This, in turn, caused me some major mishaps— unconsciously, of course. Like trying to punch or block in self defense with my left hand, which turned out as a very bad reflex because even if it was strong for a non-dominant hand, it wasn't as functional as a dominant one— at least not before my training

_'What is sensei up to now?' _I found myself thinking as I proceeded towards the yard of the temple. I had a very strong feeling that he would most likely attack me or something, to test my agili—

"Ah!" I instantly rolled aside as sensei jumped down from the roof of the temple, as soon as I entered the yard. In fact, he didn't stopped there; he tried jabbing his wooden sword directly onto my solar plexus but I jumped a few steps back to avoid it.

His attacks continued for about a few couple of minutes after that— making it very difficult for me to stay in defense as his attacks were _relentless. _This guy had the stamina like a bloody animal and his high speed and agility were definitely nothing to be taken lightly. The weight of the swords in my hands, on top of it, made it pretty difficult for me to dodge especially since they both were very heavy for my twelve years self.

Unfortunately, I dropped one sword as I ducked when sensei lunged forward, aiming his sword towards my throat. He instantly proceeded to turn in for a roundhouse kick as I jumped backwards, arms raised to block. The strength of his right leg slamming into my crossed arms sent me sprawling, making my back slam at the wall of the temple.

"Your speed," his gruff voice noted, "has significantly increased. Your strength however, leaves much to be desired; though I cannot blame you for that, since you still are of a quite small stature." He picked up the sword I dropped and unsheathed the turquoise blade, "Your defense has significantly improved as well, which I must say, is a very pleasant change from your rash attack tactic."

I blushed as I slowly recovered from my slumped position, "I was practicing on that for the past four months, just as you had asked me to..." I huffed loudly, trying to stabilize my rapid breathing.

"That's good to know." he praised me as he patted my head, "You seem to have maintained the swords quite well too, for which I thank you."

"Did you expected me to... break them like Toshi-senpai did?"

"No, but I kept my expectations low, just in case."

"Heh," I snorted as I handed over the other sword for him to look over once as well, "I don't like misusing things which are not mine."

"That's very responsible of you," he commented offhandedly as he inspected the other turquoise nichirin sword, "If only the other two were as responsible as you, child."

"Regardless of that," sensei continued as he sheathed the sword in his hand, "I called you here to inform you that I am done teaching you. You are free to go."

"E-Eh...?"

"You," he slowly repeated his words, "Are free to go if you wish to, from tomorrow onward. Your training under me is complete as you have mastered everything I could offer you."

"I-I am?" I blurted out in surprise, still not accepting the fact that my training is finally over.

"You are." his gaze oddly sharpened, "Now, stop doubting yourself, child. I have taught you every skill I could— except the breathing technique, as you had refused. And you, Sarota, have mastered every single one of them."

"I... I am not yet even familiar with many things, let alone mastering them and just now-"

"As are Hitoshi and Hiroshi, but you won't see them questioning their own capabilities."

"They," a smile spread across my face as I was reminded of their cocky attitudes, "have trained way longer than me..."

"So? They still can't get up in the morning, despite me trying to get them into that habit for years." I grinned as I remembered how Hitoshi was complaining (in his letter) about their crows pecking them awake in the morning for their missions. "It is true that you have trained far less than the boys, but you also have mastered everything I taught you far better and quicker than both of them combined. So, stop focusing on the experiences and credentials you don't have, rather than on the ones you already do."

"Yes, sensei." I mentally winced at my own unconvinced tone, drawing a sigh from the older man in front of me.

"In the end, it's only you who can satisfy yourself. Remember that, Miyasha."

Hah, ironic how I used to tell this to my parents in last life, and now have the same thing being told to me.

.  
.

"By the way, Sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Did you _really_ had to do that?"

"I can't send you to terminate any demon since you don't want to be a demon slayer, so yes."

"...fair enough."

* * *

"Missing them?" Shigeno-sensei asked offhandedly as he entered the common room.

"...no," I answered quietly as I folded the freshly dried laundries, "I was just... remembering that today we would have been celebrating their birthday if they were here."

"It's surprising that you more worry about them now rather than initially when they were out for their final selection." Sensei mused out loud as he started helping me with the dry laundry.

"I am not worrying, sensei." I huffed, collecting all the folded clothes into different piles, "I was just wondering why they couldn't even visit once... or just send a letter instead..." _Like they did before._

"Some missions can be very taxing, Miyasha." Sensei smiled down at me, "Perhaps, they just couldn't get time to send their crows with the letters." I huffed again, pouting involuntarily as sensei took the now folded clothes to our respective rooms.

"Sulking would do nothing, child."

"...I'm not sulking!"

"Mmhm," he smiled cheekily, "Are you still going to make those mochi for their birthday...?"

"...No."  
And I did end up making them.

"It's just... the New Year is almost upon us, and today is the twins' birthday. So, I thought I could make some cakes as a... celebration." Sensei laughed heartily at my half-hearted explanation, patting me as he went in the kitchen to bring in the plates and food.

"Very considerate of you, child." Sensei smiled and patted me again as we sat down to eat, "Thank you for taking care of them so well, though you do seem to spoil them a little more than you should."

_What...?_ "You make it sound like I am their mother..." I mumbled, glowering at him as he started laughing again.

"I make it sound as such because you behave just like that," With a kind smile on his lips, Sensei continued, "And not just to them, but to me too." He gently teased as his green eyes twinkled with mirth.

I huffed loudly to show my displeasure at his teasing and stuffed a big bite of the fish in my mouth, making him laugh even more. He was just as childish as those two when he wanted to be.

Oh! That just reminded me-  
"Sensei?"

"Yes, Miyasha?"

"...Can I leave tomorrow for the town?" I asked hesitantly, "I... wanted to visit somewhere."

Sensei hummed, "I won't stop you then. But do wear appropriate clothing for the weather and take a sword with you inside that large shawl you have— it is not safe out there, nowadays."

"Hai, sensei!" I smiled at his caring nature, "Oh, and sensei, do you... know any brothel that is near here? Or... at the bank of the river, which is near the temple?"

"Brothel?" He raised an eyebrow, looking at me with an unreadable expression. "I am not familiar with one near any river, but there are only two areas nearby that are have very popular brothels— the red district area: which is a cluster of brothels together, and the western district of Kurto which is the nearest one, being just a few towns away from here."

"Ah, thank you sensei." I smiled at him gratefully for both helping me and not asking the reason behind my question. It honestly wasn't that I didn't want to explain it to him, but rather it was that I wasn't yet comfortable to tell him the full details. Only the twins were aware that I was a daughter of an oiran and even though sensei was a man who never judged, I still found myself hesitating.

"But," sensei suddenly interjected, "Before you go out, take some medicines and food along with you- both the brothels are quite further away."

"Hai, sensei."

"Also," his voice strangely mellowed down as he asked, "Do you want me to guide you the way to the... brothel?"

I blinked twice at his... very expected question actually. "Uh-"

"It is far." He justified, "Not to mention that it might be dangerous for someone as young as you."

"I... um, this is... for my personal reasons and that's why I want to..."

"Go alone? Understandable. Let me make a map for you then, if you don't mind?"

_That actually... won't be that bad. _  
"Yes please, sensei. Thank you so much!" I thanked him genuinely, making sure to let my expression be as grateful as I could because this man right here, was a blessing in disguise.

He treated me almost as an equal to him, rather than a twelve year child that my physical body depicted me to be. Not to get me started on the fact how he never hindered us (me and the twins) from experiencing anything, even if it may seem dangerous- which may seem irresponsible for a guardian, but was a necessity in this kind of world.

And maybe that's what I needed the most— lots of experience and trust in my own skills.

* * *

The chilly breeze outside was cutting through my skin like a sharp knife, making me shiver because of its harsh torture.

I used to love winter in my past life; the cold air felt refreshing to my too warm body that I was used to for nineteen years. I couldn't, for the love of God, handle heat at all back then.

But now?  
I can't handle cold. How ironic can that be?

It was like my body was almost always cold— the tips of my fingers freezing cold even in the summer; such a drastic change from the sweaty hands I once had.

I clutched the large woollen shawl closer to my small body, rubbing my frozen digits on its coarse texture. The friction it caused made some heat generate back into my fingers, making me slightly warmer than before.

Japan always had these notorious winters— the snow making them beautiful but harsh at the same time. And the Kurto region— where the brothel I used to live in should be— had that harsh-beauty aspect at its finest, with all the heavy snow it gets here.

_'It looks...' _I looked around gingerly as I blew air onto my hands to warm them up, _'...so empty. What happened here...? Did the demons-' _I shook my head to get the gruesome thoughts out of my head.

It took me six days to reach this district; traveling by foot in this thick snow was far more challenging than I thought. But then again, I never exactly travelled so far in snow before.

_'Except the time I dived into that river almost eight years back.' _I mused as I made my way through the familiar, yet so unfamiliar streets.

Every door, every window was closed— there wasn't even a single sound to depict if there was still any life residing in these houses. And I would have even believed that, had I not have the ability to sense auras.

There was also this strange gloominess that clutched this district in a very ominous way. This bizarre atmosphere was overwhelming at best, if I had to describe it in any other way.

I walked through the maze of streets for a while, searching for that one similar path that I could still remember vividly— the one that I used most to go to the vendors near the brothel. It was the only one that I had somehow retained the memory of, within all the mess of memories I had from both my lives.

My breath hitched when I found that familiar street— even with all the snow covering it, I could never forget it. The snow just made it feel more... lonely, discarded.

Just like what I tried to with the memories of my past.

I slowly walked towards brothel, shivering in cold and a strange nervousness as the freezing wind brushed pass me again. My eyes watered involuntarily as I stared back at the arriving entrance of the once buzzing entertainment house. It looked so dark, empty, cold... tragic.

I took a deep breath— feeling the cold air burning through my lungs which hindered me from shedding any tears, making my body feel colder but more aware than before. I... don't want to break down. Not yet.

I entered into the brothel feeling numb— the wooden floor creaking beneath my small feet. There was... a moist feeling to this whole place; almost like a... stale kind of smell.

Maybe this was how abandonment smelled like, huh?

Forgotten memories trickled in as I slowly looked over the place— a little me running through the rooms doing tasks that I was allotted, Yeri-san playing koto as I sat down beside her, oka-san showing me how to dance with her fans...

Warm tears trailed down my face on their own accord as I finally reached the room oka-san and I shared. The sliding door was crooked; broken off its track. I remember the room being in disarray when I last... _saw _it, but now it was all... empty. Destroyed.

I slowly entered the room, marvelling at how the last rays of twilight illuminated it in such serene manner. A shuddering breathe left my body as I sat down in front of her dressing table— staring at the huge crack on its mirror near the left corner, wondering just how I ended up here. Just _how _I ended up in all this mess...

A humourless laugh bubbled through my body, making me almost double over in hysterical laughter as tears trickled down my face. I laid down on my back, covering my eyes with right forearm as I laugh-cried. My small body trembled in grief as I finally let everything out— the loss of my little sister, my mother, oka-san, Yeri-san... everything. Once and for all.

These walls felt just like I was feeling— abandoned, empty and disappointed. The stale taste felt so familiar and so... relieving.

I sniffled loudly, letting my body calm itself down on its own accord. My mind finally felt lighter than before, calmer, and a bit more... _me._

Maybe this was not the closure I was looking for, but I would still take it— all this being reborn and almost dying and demons and everything was too much for me. Just being Miyasha was too much for me; pretending to live as someone I am not in a world where I should not exist and with knowledge I should not have... it was just too much.

And still... there was this strange pull I had— this strange... desire to live, excitement to _see. _Maybe because I already knew a part of the future? Did I really didn't want to be a part of the plot—

_'Shut it.' _  
I am not going to think about all this. Not now, at least. Right now, I just want to be. Breathe. Sleep. Live.

After taking another deep breath of the stale air near me, I got up from the filthy floor— gingerly brushing away all the dust my clothes had collected as I had rolled around the floor without a care.

I slowly looked around one last time before taking off— _'Wait, what's... that-?' _I reached out under the dressing table, grabbing what seemed like a colourful cloth...?

My heart skipped a beat as I pulled out the old wine red fan- the dusty golden floral pattern still clear on its firm hilt. It was a part of oka-san's favourite and most expensive pair of hand-fans that she loved to perform with.

But... _'Where is the other one?' _I frowned as I instantly started searching through the room for its other pair. Unfortunately, the sun was already below the horizon, thus, taking away its natural luminous away from me. The dust and cluster of cobwebs didn't help in my task either.

Sadly even after searching an hour in the light of the candle (that I had the hindsight to bring along with me), I could not find the other pair of that iconic fan.

I dusted the wine red fan gently, thinking wistfully about how much this one fan summed up this whole journey.

_'Gained some closure over the recent grief and yet, opened up the bottle of longing-ness for my previous life, or rather... for attachment? I am no longer sure myself.'_

* * *

"I'm home..." my voice quivered as I called out the standard Japanese greeting after entering the temple. For the past whole week, it was as if everything made me want to bawl my eyes out.

"Welcome home, Miyasha." Sensei warmly welcomed me with a soft, but excited smile. "The boys have sent their letters when you were away. I haven't yet opened them, so rest assured."

"Oh? Where are those? Can I see the—"

"Not now." He sternly ordered, "You just came back from a two week journey. Go keep your satchel in your room and freshen up while I start with the dinner. Eat and then we can open them. If they can take time to reply to our letters, then so can we."

I suppressed a smile at his worrying, "Hai, sensei." I replied softly as I proceeded towards me room.

"And Miyasha?"

"Hai, sensei?"

"I am here for you, if you ever want to talk about it." He said warmly as he patted my back, "Also, the villagers were asking for you. Do make sure to go meet them when you are free."

I stood there for a few minutes more, watching him move towards the kitchen. This time, I couldn't stop the tears that streamed down my face.

.  
.

"Idiots." I mumbled as I glowered at their sloppy handwriting.  
Apparently those two idiots had got themselves injured and had been resting in the butterfly estate for the past one month.

"No need to be so harsh on them." Sensei defended them half-heartedly as he suppressed a smile at my reaction.

"How can I not? Those idiots trained for more than a decade and still ended up getting injured within the first year of their actual work."

"Yes, yes." He mockingly agreed as he drank his tea, making my vain pop.  
Men will always be men— careless and carefree.

"But... sensei," I began, "why did you not take any more students than... us? Or train us for this long? I mean, you had trained them for, uh, longer than they needed— I mean, it's not like they didn't needed the rest of—"

"You mean to ask me why I prolonged their training while I could have ended it quite early?" He raised his eyebrow as I nodded back, "I don't want to rush in as many students as I can, because that would do nothing but end them making prey to the demons. Quality is my priority and that is why I have taught you three everything I could to the best of my ability."

"O-Oh..." _that actually makes sense._" But I don't want to be a demon slayer... then why teach me?"

"Why indeed," he hummed, "Maybe because I believe this art should not only be restricted for the demon slayers."

"What...? Sensei, if the breathe style is taught to everyone, then even demons would know about it... which would be counter-productive. Not to mention that you may have to perform..." I gulped as I couldn't bring myself to say that word.

"Seppuku?" Sensei asked with a half-smile, "I know. That is why I chose you."

"E-Eh?"

"It is true that you may turn into a demon, but I believe that you would never let it happen to yourself," he directed a knowing smile towards me, "Because no matter how much you hate humans, you could never bear to see one dying under your watch, let alone killing one."

"Y-You don't know that..." _in fact, I didn't knew either._

"Oh? You would then?" _Would I?_

I...  
I don't know.  
And that scared me.

I mean, I know I would save people if I was given the chance... but if there was danger on my life as well, would I still do it?  
And if I didn't, would I be a monster?  
What if I couldn't save them? What if... I knew they would die and I couldn't save them? Would it be my fault? Would I be able to change things with the knowledge I have? Should change though—?

"Miyasha," his firm grip on my shoulder pulled me off of my panicked thoughts, the warmth of his hands somewhat bringing me back to reality. "Go to sleep. It is already pretty late."

And I tried, but I couldn't.  
Sleep wouldn't come to me, even when I felt this bone-deep tiredness. It was like... my whole body was just _numb_ and mind so full of questions.

I got up and opened my (still unpacked) satchel, taking out the dusty wine red fan. Its smooth red wine coloured silk had a serene shine to it which, along with the golden floral on its wooden hilt, made it look enchanting.

After washing it delicately— but meticulously —it looked even more beautiful. A sombre smile took over my face as I remembered how much oka-san loved to dance with it.

I took a deep breath and slowly brought up the fan with my right hand, turning over as I gracefully and delicately opened it with my left hand. Enacting through the dance she once taught me, I slowly let the rhythm of the steps wash away all my thoughts...

* * *

**(~×~)**

* * *

Shigeno smiled as he noticed her dancing in the yard.

Under the moonlight, her dance almost looked sacred— her peaceful expression and body language only adding to that imagery. He could almost feel the melancholy off of her graceful movements, as she flipped her fan open and moved it through the air.

He stood there on the edge of the yard, watching her dance her heart out. It was the first time he ever saw her so open— so very peaceful. Maybe this trip _was _necessary for her.

He sighed as he watched her finish her dance, her posture becoming stiff as soon as she heard him approach.

"That was Kyomai, was it not?" He asked casually as he saw her rise from her kneeling position.

"...Hai, sensei." She finally replied as she looked up to his eyes. Her violet eyes had a strange glow, emotions that he could not decipher brimming through them. But one thing he was sure of.

"Fan dancing comes more natural to you than swordsmanship, it seems." He smiled at the confusion that flashed through her eyes, "Maybe I can ask an old friend of mine to make some new weapon for you. He sure will love this new challenge."

His smile widened when he noticed that he had caught his student off-guard, "I may not be familiar with you as much as you are, but I still believe in you with the little I know of you, Miyasha. I hope the day comes soon when you see that power within you."

"T-This..." she started hesitantly, her lavender eyes clouding over with liquefied emotions, "...I-I don't want this _power. _I just... I just want to _live. _I... I don't want this..."

"One meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it." He said soberly as he looked at her tear-streamed face, "Accepting the destiny is the only way you can change it according to your own wishes."

* * *

**(~×~)**

* * *

_"One meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it."_

It's... so ironic.  
So much so, that it was not even funny anymore.  
What even more ironic was that I didn't even know if it was to be my destiny or not.

"You would need a weapon to take with yourself when you leave the temple." Sensei declared with a sombre expression, "I can ask a friend of mine to make a pair for you— though it solely depends on you if you want a pair of swords or..." he looked at the large fan in my hands.

"...fans?" I asked stupidly as I met his gaze.

"They form a good weapon and have quite similarities with swords, especially the ones as large as these." I nodded unconsciously as looked over red wine fan in my hand. It was at least a good thirty centimetres long and even wider than that, when fully opened.

"Should I...?"

"If you did," he started gently while brushing my unruly bangs off of my eyes, "I will not be able to train you. But, I will be here to help you. In the end, it is for you to decide your own fate."

* * *

**(~End of Training Arc~)**

* * *

_**Jaysus CHRIST. This is one long chapter and I sure as hell died writing and editing it— not to mention that this is literally my fourth draft and has been edited over four times more. **_

_**I have never been so tired (or relieved) after uploading a chapter xD**_

_**And am quite excited too! I mean, who wouldn't? We are meeting Tanjiro in the next arc~! I don't know about you guys, but I seriously cannot wait xD**_

_**Oh! And before you point it out— yes, I've deleted the first chapter (that waning one) and have changed the rating. I have delete the chapter because In felt that it was more relevant and useful on wattpad than here (Especially since people don't read the description there quite often) and for the rating, I am still quite not sure if I will add that amount of mature or not... so I'll cross the bridge when I'll reach it. For now, it'll be 'T'.**_

**_Anyhoo~ It's time for answering some reviews!_**

**whatsername217:_ Hello dear! Thank you so much for your reviews! (I hope you continued reading this fanfic x'D) I actually really liked your theory on Miyasha's father and your input on her aura sensibility really made my day :') For now, I won't be disclosing any relevant info, but I can assure you this__— It'll be disclosed in due time._**

**Einklley: **_**This one was the longest I ever wrote, so I hope you enjoy :') And I really hope you stay safe and healthy too, dear! And don't worry, I sure am doing that. About those ****exclamation**** and emojis**_**_— I absolutely don't mind if you type in your reviews as you normally do! You don't need to change your writing style just because of me! I like you just the way you are, dear! And about the name__— just call me Priya ^_^_**

**Crystal Blue Butterfly: _I'm really glad you liked this story! And thank you so much for giving this story a chance (^w^)_**

**samuelpatricio96:_ Highly depends on which one you are talking about! If you are talking about the current life's one (which you most likely are), then she is already deceased._**

_**And that's all with the comments**_**_— which were quite a lot! You guys literally made my whole month with your comments and I just can't thank you guys enough...!_**

_**Please look forward to the next chapter (Highschool AU this time) within the next hour or two!**_

_**Stay safe and stay tuned for more!**_


	19. That Strict Ass!

**!Highschool Omake!**

**That Strict Ass!**

* * *

Miyasha hated being right.  
Especially if it was about something bad that was going to happen.

"Please do tell me if it pains, okay?" Miyasha gently ordered Zenitsu as she treated his bloody nose and black eye, "Also, can you please tell who did this to you, dear? Aren't you the moral officer, Agatsuma-kun?"

"H-Hai..." the blond boy answered, blushing slightly. "The... delinquents were the ones who accidentally hurt me— it wasn't intentional, I think."

"Wait, what—? Why didn't you tell Tomioka-senpai then?"

"I did, but..."

"...But? How did he react, Agatsuma-kun?" Miyasha frowned when she saw him hesitate, "Did he hit you too...?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh my!" She exclaimed, horrified at his confirmation, "But why did he—"

"Because I have blond hair..."

"...so?" Miyasha frowned, "Why would that be an issue when its natural— wait, it _is _natural though, right?"

"Yes, but it's against the rules to have coloured hair..."

Miyasha sighed heavily as Zenitsu slowly opened up about all the other students who made his work as a moral officer difficult and how much he didn't wanted to be one in the first place.

Later when she plopped down heavily onto her office chair, Tamayo gave her a sympathetic look.

"It happens here a lot." She said softly, grabbing Miyasha's attention, "Tomioka-san is a little... too strict sometimes."

"Strict? Sometimes?" Miyasha looked incredulously at the school doctor, "Tamayo-nee, he's literally too much of a spartan! Agatsuma-kun didn't even wanted to open up about it properly, and when he did, I also got to know that he is not the only one— his friend, Kamado, literally gets chased the whole day around by Tomioka-senpai because he wears his traditional earrings that he doesn't wants to remove because of their significance! If he didn't stop this, then either the students will suffer or his own career..."

Tamayo gave a wistful smile to the younger girl in front of her, "...There have been many complaints from the PTA about him and I heard from the principal that the Board of Education might make a move."

"Wait, what?! That's bad!" She exclaimed, "Does Tomioka-senpai not know that...?"

"He does," Tamayo confirmed, "But I don't know why he still continues to act as such..."

Miyasha nodded at the brunette's words, her violet eyes sharpening in resolve. She was going to talk some sense into that strict ass, even if it's the last thing she has to do. But first... she needed some _permission._

* * *

_"He's had a... troublesome childhood, Sarota-san. His father was most of the time absent and when he wasn't... well, I think you already got what I meant, if I'm interpreting your expression right..."_

The meeting with Ubuyashiki-sama was very... enlightening for Miyasha, to say the least.

It explained so _so _much, now that she thought about it all... of _course _he 'disciplines' the students just like how he himself once had been! How blind could she be to not see the signs— she really didn't knew.

This was a classic case of childhood trauma, and the only way she could help him was by slowly poking him into the right direction of identifying it, and maybe some therapy...

_"You have my full permission to... __**scold **__him, as you said," he grinned as he spoke, "But please nothing too extensive, alright, Sarota-san? I trust you with this case and I really hope you can bring in some positive results..."_

The principal's words rang in her ears, cementing her resolve even further.

She took out her notepad and instantly made a 'To-do' list with all her plans on how to handle Giyuu's rigidness and how she could open him up.

And at the end of it all, she wrote the one thing that she genuinely wanted to do herself: _to be his friend._

Maybe, by the end of this all, she could make that little wish come true... if he doesn't hate her by then, that is.

* * *

And maybe she just spoke too soon. Or thought too soon, more like.

That guy even refused to _listen _to her! And even when she did corner him, he just stood there with his default stoic face— not even looking at her directly! It was like he kept on ignoring her and that infuriated her more than anything.  
But no, she was _not _going to give up, dammit!

"Tomioka-senpai~!" She sternly called out his name as she yanked the sleeve of his track suit when he was about to hit Zenitsu, "Do not hit students, senpai! Not only is that mean, but it's against the _rules _as well!"

Giyuu eyes widened a fraction when he saw her tugging on his sleeve with a very gentle grip, despite her somewhat angry words. When her eyes followed his gaze on her hold, she instantly loosened her grip and tucked her hand back on to her waist.

And even though she didn't notice it, but the moment she took her hand off of his sleeve, his face saddened just for a fraction of second before returning to his usual stoic face. And Zenitsu was almost sure that what he saw was just an illusion.

"Agatsuma-kun," she called out suddenly, giving him a soft smile, "Go to your class, dear. Isn't it the time your first class, starts?"

"H-Hai, Sarota-sensei!" He bowed to her and instantly took his leave while he could.

"...senpai?" She softly called out to the blue-eyed male in front of her, sighing when he didn't even look at her back. "Look, I'm here to help the school— and that means helping the teachers as well as students. The way you try to enforce the rules are too rigid and make the students want to defy them even more. I highly suggest you to change your approach of enforcement of the rules... That's all."

She sighed again, hearing the school bell ring in the background. "If you want some help in... _handling _the students in a better, more effective way, then please don't hesitate to ask me, okay? I'll be here to help you whenever you need me." Miyasha smiled softly at the stoic main in front of her, hoping that he would understand the intention behind her words.

"...would you?" She froze when she heard him speak.

"E-Eh?"

"Would you help me," he said with same stoic face as before, but with just something in those blue eyes of his... "With handling the students?"

"Y-Yes!" Her eyes lit up as she answered him, "Of course I will! That's why I'm here for!"

He nodded slightly as he saw her almost bouncing on her feet with happiness, "Hey, do you mind if we talk about it at lunch, please? Oh! And will you do lunch with me?!" She asked him excitedly with a very hopeful look which he just couldn't say no to.

He nodded gingerly as she gave him a bright smile and waved as she ran back into the school with an apology.

He almost wondered how this would end as he slowly went inside the school himself, first time not rushing the children into their respective classes.

Giyuu marvelled at the strange excitement he suddenly seemed to have, not aware that the girl that caused it felt the exact same excitement as he did and was eagerly waiting for the lunch period to come, just as he was even if he would never admit it anyone else.

* * *

_**Sooooooo, here's the second installment of my update today! **_

_**By the next chapter, I'll start the next arc! And damn I'm so excited xD**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_


	20. Chapter 18

**(~Blood Arc~)**

* * *

A scream echoed through the night, instantly grabbing my attention.

I simultaneously changed my path, opting to jump over the roofs instead of sprinting down the streets as I was doing— it was easier too, not to mention I could feel the demon's aura more acutely now, without all the other auras of the humans in this village.

_'There they are_—_' _I jumped off the house's roof I was on, opening my fans as I looked over the situation in front of me; the male demon was about to bite the human's neck.

_'Lower level demon.' _I concluded as I slashed him with the tip of my nichirin fans, distracting him enough to loosen his grip on the female, enabling me to grab her from her waist and move away. The demon moaned in pain, recovering almost instantly from the angry red slashes on his arms and neck.

I looked down at the young lady in my arms, smiling at her reassuringly as I gently ordered her, "Run. And don't look back, okay ma'am?"

She looked very scared and shaken— I almost assumed she would refuse to leave, but the demon's loud grunting got her back to her senses, almost making her stumble out of my arms.

"Calm down, Miss! Please do not scream, okay?" I gave her an unhurried smile, listening minutely to the demon's nearing movements behind me. "I'll handle it from here. Go run to your home, and stay in please." I smiled at her one last time before opening my bloodied fan once again and slashed the demon's eyes, making it give out a short scream and fall back in shock. The lady ran back, just as I had instructed her to.

After looking back for one last time to see if there were any more humans around, I looked down at the demon in front of me, waiting for the effects of the blood to arise.

_'It's a more... savage one.' _I mused as I saw it arise, slower than it first did. Its movements were sloppy and looked as if he was struggling.

I stood there indifferent, watching silently as the demon sprawled back onto the ground; its flesh melting off of its body and slowly catching fire. Within the next few minutes, there was almost nothing of the demon left, besides the blood spilled over the soft earthy ground.

_'Looks like I have to use my blood again...' _I frowned, looking around the bloodied earth around me, _'It's honestly a wastage of material, but I have to clean up regardless.'_ That, or else the police would suspect a murder and there would be a whole lot of chaos that I was not willing to deal with.

I sighed softly as I sprayed the red mixture over the bloodied ground, watching it catch fire within the second it touched the ground. The unnatural white flames of the fire (not for the first time) made me wonder the reason behind their odd colour. Maybe it's because of some reaction between my blood and the demon's? But if so, then why would it not happen when I inject the demon with the blood or when it disintegrates?

Soon, the white flames died down, leaving no trace of blood on the field. I stored the pitcher back in my satchel, securing the liquid left.

_'I might need to make more tomorrow...' _I thought wryly as I moved away from the area. The Sun would be up in an hour or two, so I still had some time to hunt for any demons in this area. I jumped over the wooden fence on the field, sprinting over to somewhere higher for me to sense the auras better.

It had been almost six years since I started using a pair of fans as my main weapons, almost five years since I mastered them and four years since I left the temple.

No, I was not a demon slayer— I was just a normal girl with abnormal blood and a fate she just couldn't get rid of.

After sprinting across the town to some higher grounds (poles, buildings, trees), I felt no inhumane dense aura that I was a bit too familiar with by now.

_'No more demons here then, huh?'_  
For the last four years, the thing I've noticed the most is that demons majorly preferred infecting two types of areas— either the large cities where they can blend in easily, or the small villages on the countryside or mountain region where they could feed on humans without any major detection.

For the past four years of my life, I had moved across Japan, making connections and planting informants everywhere. My main focus for all this while, was to keep track of the plot and to protect myself from its effects.

_'After all,' _I thought bitterly as I jumped in from the window to the room I was currently staying in, _'I could not pretend to be a doctor for my whole life.'_

I instantly laid myself back in the futon, pretending to sleep as I heard someone walk outside. The current family I was residing with were a very generous one; not exactly financially secure, but very generous regardless of that. The father, unfortunately was very sick and most likely had malaria, if the symptoms were to go by. I had provided him with some basic medicines and made them a list of things to add in his diet— like cinnamon, ginger and fever nuts.

Fortunately enough, they didn't minded me staying overnight for some last 'treatment', thus giving me the chance to scoot over the area for the demon I kept feeling the aura of since I entered this town, and to make a paste with my blood and some basil leaves.

My blood had some very distinctive properties than other human's blood, which I realized in my initial years of 'exploring'— even its texture differed from a normal human's blood by being thicker, colour lighter and the smell almost... non-existent. At least if fresh. I always knew my blood was a bit different than the others', but not how much until I got my wound treated by someone else.

But its corrosive nature in case of demon flesh came as more than just a shock— especially when it happened without a moment's notice. One moment the demon clawed out the muscles of my upper arm and on the other he was writhing in pain, cursing me as his flesh melted off in front of me. The only mystery that I had was what made my blood so special? Or so different?

Not that I didn't had any theories of my own about it— maybe my high intake of sunlight (that I did to keep my obnoxiously cold body warm), or maybe the high amount of vitamin-D in my body due to it? Or maybe I was a new kind of blood type— the one that is opposite of the _marechi. _Won't that be just brilliant? But then again, these were only theories.

I sighed again as I turned around in my futon, trying unsuccessfully to sleep. I was so used to nocturnal activities that I was now no longer able to sleep at night. The only time I ever felt sleepy nowadays, was when I was under the warm sunlight.

I sighed again, finally deciding to get up from my futon. No use trying to sleep when I couldn't. I changed my clothes back to my kimono— it was of milky-white in colour, with some beautiful baby pink cloud-ish designs on it. Its obi was of a darker shade of pink, with white string in between. Overall, it was a cute little kimono; one that gave me a harmless vibe and kept me in good graces of people with the image I upheld. Even the haori matched with the kimono— the same milky-white colour with (albeit much darker) pink cloud-ish designs.

I packed the basil-blood paste in a small box, wrapping it in a cloth along with some other herbs that might help with the joint pains causing due to malaria.

_'Should I,' _I peered at the window, noting the barely peeking Sun on the horizon, _'Leave now? I mean, I've made the paste...'_

I slowly walked into the patient's room, an involuntary smile appearing on my face as I noticed the elder daughter sleeping beside her father with a wet cloth in her hand. After changing the water and gently prying the cloth off of the daughter's hand, I applied it on the father's head and gently nudged the daughter awake.

"...Dear?" I whispered softly as I noticed her waking up, "I have to go now, love. Can you tell your mother to add a spoon of this paste in your father's food, at least twice a day?"

The fifteen year old nodded, grabbing the box from my hands gingerly.

"Also tell your mother to grind the herbs in this small bag and make it into a paste to apply on your father's joints whenever he is in pain, okay? He'll be fine within a few weeks if you do so." I patted the young girl gently as she nodded sleepily at me.

"Onee-san..." she mumbled as I was about to exit the room, "Are you... going back?"

"Mmhm," I nodded, "Onee-san has other people to look after too, dear! So I have to go, okay? Please tell your mother that I am highly obliged to her for letting me stay the night." I gave her a closed eye smile as I quietly left the room.

I instantly wrote down a letter, briefing everything I said to the elder daughter, and left it in the plain sight of the dining table. Hopefully they will follow it as such.

* * *

In my past life, I was girl who had almost no curiosity— after years of being denied answers and told not to ask 'stupid or irrelevant questions' by my teachers, I had lost all my curiosity back then.

But in this lifetime, I let my curiosity grow; I let myself question things and tried to find answers _myself, _just because I was not able to do so before. And even though that seemed like a good thing at first— helping me grow as a person and to discover many things —it emerged as a disadvantage at this moment.

Or moments, if I were to be honest.  
Since I'd left the temple, I'd tried to secure myself some connections and informants who could keep me up-to-date with how the flow of supernatural things and presence of demons. It was only due to my connections did I not get arrested yet, now that I thought about it.

Regardless of that, even though I kept those connections and informants as something to help me avoid demons— and demon slayers —I could not, however, follow through it myself.

My curiosity was what first got me to hunt down a demon I once heard rumours of, but then it was my guilt and undeniable moral that led me to kill it. And unfortunately, this cycle continued ever since then, even more so when I got to know about my blood's distinct properties.

Once I got to know what my blood could do, I started using it as my own demon poison— experimenting it on the demons I hunted, watching it gradually take its effect. My science-student brain even nudged me to the idea of mixing it with wisteria essence, which I did and saw it corroding the demon from the inside out.

Earlier, my curiosity (and somewhat my moral) led me to hunt any demons I could find, but now the adrenaline rush and my bloody _hero syndrome_ (minus the creating situation part, since the demon did it itself), didn't let me stop doing it.

It was still harmless though, until I found mount Sagiri... and met Urokodaki by utter chance, three years ago.

It honestly wasn't much of a meeting, to be honest— just passing by him as I crossed the fields near the base of the mount. But damn, did it made heart erratic and excited; it was like, I couldn't _wait _to see how things would go, how Tanjiro would look or how—

I took a deep breath, focusing my thoughts back on the present. Since that day, I just couldn't stop the excitement... The wish to see the one characters from the anime I so-long-ago watched.

I know, I know, I did I say that I won't get involved with the plot, and no, I won't— but there was no harm in trying to determine on what time span I am on the plot, right? That would only help me avoid them, so it shouldn't exactly be an issue—

My eyes widened as I noticed someone lying on the dirt path, a few meters ahead of me.

I hurried over to him, noticing his men's kimono and blue haori with little white clouds. I instantly kneeled beside him, gently moving his burgundy bangs over his eyes to check—

My breath hitched when I noticed that familiar '_**scar**_' on the top left of his forehead, and those earrings hanging off from his ears...

_'Just,' _I gulped, slowly moving away from the boy laying in front of me, _'What are the chances that I'll meet Tanjiro, out of everyone, lying on the ground like this?'_

* * *

**_Yeah, yeah, I know. _**

**_Me, updating so frequently might seem a shocker_**— _**but I genuinely am excited to write now xD**_

_**I can't wait to get cuddling with Gi**_— _***cough* *cough* of course, all in due time. **_

_**So! let's move onto MY favorite part; the reviews :D**_

**samuelpatricio96**:**_ Well, I cannot tell you for now what I have planned for our Miya-chan here, but I can assure you that finding that one fan has a different significance than anyone might guess. So trust me on that and keep reading! Though, I loved your little theory there ;)_**

**marrona:_ I know right?! Our little boi deserves more love and screen time _TwT**

**TheBlueAmethyst:**_** AAAH! Your review actually made my day! xD I'm really glad you like this story so far and for the small things that may seem unnatural to you (like the 3 month baby sitting up), will all be explained in due time, or at least, in a subtle way. Since my motive to write this story is to see how much I can actually give scientific reasons behind the many facts used in the manga (and to save our babies), I'll try to give as many reason I can as possible, though all in due time. Now, about the showdown between the demon who killed her mother and Miyasha: trust me when I say that I will try to make everything as unique and as unexpected as I can, so that 'showdown' may be very... different than what you may think. So please stay tuned xD Now, about the grammar**_— _**I need to edit the whole thing up, which I will after I reach a particular arc, so I'm extremely sorry for the inconvenience! About the dots though, they kind of represent the trailing off of thought...? or words? I kind of use them as my writing style for the while, nut I'll try my best to reduce it as much as I can. About the extra AU chapter; I hope ya don't mind if I add the 'extra' bit under the title when the chapter starts! In the end, thank so much for such a detailed and beautiful comment! The criticism helped me a lot and I'll definitely work on them! Thank you so much for giving this fanfic a chance!**_

_**I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as I can! I know I'm leaving this chapter on a cliffhanger (I'm **__**sorry for that xD) but I really hope you still liked it! **_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe, stay healthy and stay tuned for more!**_


	21. Chapter 19

I took in a deep breath as I moved away from the fallen boy, taking a moment to assemble back my thoughts.

This was what I was trying to avoid for past _thirteen_ years, and yet now that I was here, I just couldn't—  
_I just couldn't __leave._

And why the hell was he not moving? Is he...?

I hesitantly crouched beside him, cautiously checking his breathing when he suddenly just _sniffed loudly._ I withdrew my hand instantly, almost falling back on my ass.

What the hell just happened?  
Did I just got... _**sniffed **_by Tanjiro?

That thought honestly made me snort; of all the possible ways I ever imagined of meeting Tanjiro, this was sure as hell never one of them.

I shook my head at my ridiculous thoughts and looked back at the evening sky— what the hell was I supposed to do now? He was alive, sure, but not exactly conscious.

I looked around one last time before sighing and deciding to move the boy away from the middle of the road. I gradually (and gently, of course), dragged the younger male towards the side and delicately removed his satchel and stick away from him.

After settling him somewhat comfortably on his back, I gently moved his bangs away from his face. The blood covered bandage on his forehead was loose— showing his 'scar' off to the world, his face was covered with dirt and his whole hair was greasy and filthy. But these things still couldn't hide the fact how _young _he looked.

How old was he? Fourteen? Fifteen?

My heart sank at that thought.  
I silently closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to erase the sudden heart ache I felt for this boy.

_'What should I do now?' _I silently wondered as started doing what I did the best— redressing his wound on his forehead. After cleaning and disinfecting it, I gently wrapped some fresh bandage around his forehead.

_'His face looks so serene and peaceful...' _I smiled sadly at the young boy in front me, my heart clenching at the thought of the many hardships to come. He already has suffered so much, but he had even more to go through...

_'He's not just a character anymore...' _This sudden realization left me breathless, making tears form in my eyes. _'He's not just a character, Miyasha... he's a person, a real human. He will suffer so much, lose so many more people_—_'_

I harshly clamped down on the thought, rubbing away the tears forming at the corner of my eyes. I can't care for him. I can't save him.

_'Can I really not?' _  
**No.**

If I did, I'll just end up messing it all up— quite possible making it even worse. Not to mention I do not know how it all ends—

Tanjiro suddenly started moving, his eyelids slowly blinking open as he looked up at me from his head on my lap.

"You okay there, dear?" I smiled down at him, hoping that he didn't notice the strange quiver in my voice, "You were lying in the middle of road, so I brought you on the side and re-applied the bandage on your head. I really hope you don't mind..."

He slowly blinked his dark red eyes at me, looking as if he was still trying to process my words. His clouded eyes almost looked like a redder shade of brown, and his face was still round around the corners, making him look quite younger than I thought he would look as.

"I..." He started tiredly, his voice almost breaking at the next few words, "Need to go home... to Nezuko."

My heart cracked at that; this young boy was breaking away all the walls I had built around for the last seventeen years of my life in a span of mere few minutes.

"Do you want me to help you walk?" I asked soothingly as I caressed his head gently. He reminded me so much of my little sister...

"N-No," he stuttered slightly, trying to slowly get up, "I... I can go on my own. Thank you so much, Miss...?"

I smiled up at him as I watched him trying to get up on his feet, but failing to do so. "Let me help you, young boy. You seem a little too tired to march around unattended. Not to mention this bag you are carrying," I gestured towards his white satchel tugged near me, "Is quite heavy. And the Sun is almost down the horizon too..."

He slowly looked up at the sky, the beautiful coral colours greeting his sight as he evaluated my offer.

"Please." I politely stressed as I got up on my own feet and looked down at him once more. He slowly nodded at me, accepting my offer, albeit reluctantly.

I offered him a hand, noticing how calloused his own hands were as he grabbed my own. I pulled him up as gently as I could, placing his arm over my shoulders and wrapping my arm around his waist.

I think I saw him blush slightly, but I wasn't sure if it was real or just the play of the fading sunlight. Anyway—

"Where is your home, young man?" I asked softly as I helped him walk forward, towards the mountain in front of us.

The thing was, I vaguely knew where Urokodaki lived, but I wasn't sure of the exact location— more like, I didn't allowed myself to be sure of it. I was curious enough to just roam around this area every once in a few months to catch a glimpse of the characters— unfortunately, I got my wish granted, against my better judgement.

Tanjiro nodded slightly, and softly instructed me the way as I helped him walk. With his stick on his right hand and his left arm on my shoulder, we got to the mountain base pretty quickly. The burgundy-haired boy didn't speak much, so didn't I, as we slowly neared Urokodaki's home.

_'Will my presence change anything...?' _I wondered silently as the small house came into view, _'I don't even remember what happens now_—_'_

Suddenly the front door of the house was kicked down, making me and Tanjiro freeze in surprise. Tanjiro's eyes widened as he saw his younger sister walk out the front door. He gasped audibly, almost falling over from my grip as he tried to run his way down towards his sister.

"Nezuko!" He yelled happily, "You... You're awake?!"

Nezuko instantly walked towards his brother once she noticed him, cradling his head tightly as she hugged him. I removed his arm from my shoulder, moving away as he hugged his sister tightly and sobbed into her shoulders.

"Why..." he whimpered loudly, "Why'd you fall asleep all of a sudden? Never waking up once! I was worried you were going to die, you know?!"

Tears welled up in my eyes again, making me almost choke back a sob. These siblings... These poor _children_.

My breath hitched as I felt another aura— the familiar, smooth, but gentle wave of water. I turned to see Urokodaki slowly walking towards the pair of siblings.

I instantly bowed to him, feeling his eyes through the smooth red goblin mask of his, as I handed over Tanjiro's satchel in his hand and bowed again silently before leaving without another word.

I felt like I was intruding in their private moment and I really, _really _wanted to leave as soon as I could. I instantly jogged my way back, still feeling a pair of eyes burning into my back.

What was this?  
Why did I got involved when I fucking promised that I wouldn't—

_'It won't affect the plot much_—_' _  
Would it not really? Was this really okay?  
Thousands and thousands of questions with no definite answer.

But one thing was sure.  
I... felt good. Better than I did in years. And I really didn't wanted to know why.

Because I feared that if I did, I won't be able to let go of them.

* * *

"It's strange how you can enter a building without anyone noticing you." A rough, masculine voice echoed through the roof, making an involuntary smile creep on my face.

"Who said I walked in from the front gate?" I asked back cheekily as I swung my feet leisurely.

"So, you are telling me," the man in his middle thirties sat near me, though not as on the edge as I was, "That you _**climbed **_this six-storey building?"

"I jumped, to be more accurate." I corrected him offhandedly, my eyes still fixed on bright lights of the city of Asakusa, Tokyo.

"Unbelievable..." he huffed exasperated, shaking his head as I started giggling at his expression.

"Is it really so~?"

"No," he answered good-naturedly, "With you, never. I have seen you kill demons twice your size, when you didn't even reached my shoulders. So I really shouldn't be surprised."

"Yamagata-san~!" I whined, "Do you always have to bring my height in~?"

"Well, I can't bring your age now, can I?" He huffed out a laugh when he noticed me pouting.

"I'll turn eighteen in a few months!" I reminded him, "I'm almost an adult now, so stop guilt tripping yourself about it."

"You're not old enough for all this, kid." He said quietly, making me smile wryly at him and reply, "Is anyone ever?"

"Anyway," I switched the topic instantly, not ready to dive into the age-old debate between us, "Any news on him?"

"Officially? No." He scowled as he took out a bundle of papers, "That demon bastard has no track records, no criminal records, no nothing."

I nodded at his statement, slowly reading through the bundle he handed me, "How can he, when he leaves no witnesses in."

"It's fuc—" he stumbled upon his words, instantly cutting back his swearing because of my presence, "It's very frustrating to see him walk around freely!"

"I agree," I folded back the bundle, "But we can't touch him lawfully, not to mention that it won't help much either. But it still would have been a bit advantageous if we could limit his transportation for a while. Anyway, how about his family?"

"His family is with him in the city for the last few days." Yamagata-san informed, "Though, are you sure they are not demons?"

"I'm sure." I answered back as I stuffed the bundle of papers into my almost worn-out satchel, "He will not risk breeding with a demon and creating something more powerful than him in fear of it overthrowing him off of his reign."

"That's sick..."

"True. But necessary. He also needs to keep up his image and cover down any strangeness about him, so having a human family is his best bet for that."

"Why is his... offspring not a demon? I mean, if she really is his."

"Hm," I tilted my head, "I don't know? I do think she's his daughter, but I'm just... not sure why she isn't a demon. Though, she can easily be a half-demon and we may not be aware of it."

Yamagata-san looked positively shaken, "Should we detain her-"

"No." I instantly rejected his idea, "Do that and he will just go back into hiding. Not to mention, that it is just a theory of mine, so there's nothing yet to worry about."

"None of your theories have been wrong, yet."

"And I'm not waiting to find out what that '_yet'_ could result in, either." I answered him back, not correcting his notion about it. All the so-called 'theories' I had discussed with the police by this point, were all based on my more-or-less accurate knowledge of the manga.

"Regardless of that, is there any _unofficial _news on him?" I redirected the conversation back to the topic concerned.

"Not much, just that his 'meeting' may keep him here for a while." Unless something else happens, went unsaid.

"And the rest of his colleagues?"

"Keeping an eye on them, just as you asked to."

"Extend that to his family too, please. Also, please look forward to some new cases within the next few weeks, or if not days."

Yamagata-san's brown eyes sharpened, "Is he going to hunt again?"

"Most likely." I answered vaguely, "I'm a bit worried about his family at this point. They are the most in danger, out of all the others."

"You mean—"

"Yes." I confirmed his thoughts, "They can very well be his next victims. Please keep an eye on them as much as you can— relocate them if possible. I'll keep you updated on Muzan's whereabouts till then. And confirm his daughter's status too, if you want me to."

"Please do and, Miyasha?"

"Hm?" I turned to look back at the older man, "You need something?"

"Be safe."  
My heart clenched at the sincerity in his voice. This man was too good to have his children lost to the demons.

"I will, good sire. Please, so do you." I smiled at the sincere police officer as he left the roof. Sometimes, being an observer seemed much worse than being involved, and maybe that was why I couldn't just accept staying as a bystander.

_'But then again,' _I thought wistfully as I secured my satchel around me, _'I do not have enough confidence to actually take responsibilities of the lives around me.' _With that thought, I jumped off the edge of the building— making my way down through swinging on flags and banners decorated on the buildings.

As I landed down on the ground, I quickly jogged into some crowded street to get the prying eyes off of me. I did not wanted any more of unwanted attention than I already got.

After a while of walking, I moved into a bit less crowded street to straighten up my kimono. Jumping around in a kimono was _very _uncomfortable, if I were to be honest. The only reason I could even do so was because I was too used to it and I pulled my kimono slightly over my feet so that I didn't stumble over it.

Without a moment's notice, I felt a piercing headache with a familiar congested feeling— which could indicate only one thing.

_Muzan is finally on the streets._

I slowly took several deep breaths, letting my body get used to his overwhelmingly dark aura. Even if I had 'met' him several times over the years, his aura still made me shiver every time— and not in a good way.

The sudden spike in another familiar aura got my stomach dropping— _Tanjiro_. His gentle and warm windy aura had suddenly changed into such a... such a _whirlpool._

_'Maybe it's not him...?' _  
The sudden intensifying of Muzan's aura came crashing down on me, as if disagreeing with me on my previous thought.

_'Oh my God.' _  
It was almost suffocating with the intensity of auras around me but, for the life of me, I could not help but worry about that gentle boy with calloused hands.

_**'He's not just a character anymore...'**_

My heart thundered in fear as I sprinted my way through the streets— drawing myself closer and closer to the pit of those heavy auras, against my better judgement. A shiver went down my spine as I noticed them there: in the middle of the road, their back towards me.

I decided to slowly pass by them— I had no role in this situation. This was not the time I could interfere; maybe I could somehow help in avoiding the commotio—

A sudden sting in the back of my neck jolted me out of my thoughts; intense heat pulsed through my whole body, originating from that single spot on the back of my neck that throbbed with its own mind-numbing, severe pain.

A scream tore away from me, grabbing the attention of everyone around but for now, I couldn't care less. A searing pain had gripped my whole body— it was as if I was melting from the inside. All of my limbs were shaking badly and my head was feeling heavier and heavier by every second.

Every breath had become a war and I felt like I was losing against it— I felt a... a sudden heavy weight on my back making it even more... difficult to breathe...

* * *

**(~×~)**

* * *

Tanjiro wasted no time to jump and restrain the woman who Muzan attacked. She could turn into a demon in no time and attack people aro—

His eyes widened as he noticed her writhing; her breath shortening and body shivering in what one could easily identify as intense pain.

_'Why didn't she,' _he slowly alleviated some pressure from the fainting woman's body, _'Turn into a demon yet?'_

His eyes widened when he noticed her lack of movement, instantly checking her breathing. _'She's alive...'_ He slowly moved down from her back, _'Just a second ago, this woman was just walking done this street!'_

_'Where'd he go?' _Tanjiro looked back at the retreating figure of Muzan, glaring at him.

_'Dammit.' _He cursed as he noticed the woman suddenly start shivering again, _'Is she transforming? Dammit! I can't leave this woman here!' _He gripped her hand tightly.

"Kibutsuji Muzan!" He screamed, knowing that his voice will carry to that monster, "I'm not letting you get away! No matter where you go!"

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he heard his _wife _call him by a different name, "No matter where you go, you're not getting away!" He yelled loudly, without caring about the audience he was gathering. "I'll follow you to the ends of Hell, and I swear I'll slice off your head with my blade! I'll never forgive you no matter what!"

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Is it a drunk?"

"Kid, step away from that poor lady!"  
Police had arrived to the scene, trying to drag Tanjiro off of the now violently shivering woman.

"I can't!" Tanjiro refused to cooperate with them, "bring some restrains, please! Please!"

"Shut up and step away! She needs medical attention!"

"Please don't do that! This person needs help! She can attack people any moment now if she is not restra—" a sudden smell invaded his nose, making him feel slightly dizzy.

_'What's this scent?' _Tanjiro thought as he slowly lessened his grip on the woman under him.

"What are all these patterns—?!" One policeman yelled

"What's going on? I can't see anything!" Another person commented, making Tanjiro look around for the source of the smell.

_'Is this some kind of attack? If it is, that means trouble!' _He suddenly felt the scent growing stronger, making him look to the side to see a woman in dark purple kimono walking towards him.

"You still use," she softly said, "The term 'person' to refer to someone who may very well be a transformed demon? And you're trying to help her?" Her eyes widened slightly as she noticed the face of the woman under him, "Please allow me to lend you a hand."

"But why? You..." Tanjiro asked in disbelief, "Your scent tells me-"

"That's right. I am a demon, but also a doctor. And she needs help," The female demon declared with a strange urgency in her voice, "Before she dies. Please, let me help her, for I too, wish to annihilate that man, Kibutsuji."

* * *

Muzan looked down at his right hand— his nails had melted off of his fingers and the tips of his fingers had turned strangely red.

He glared at his hand as he decided to look into this matter once he bids his family a goodbye.

For now, he only wanted the head of the Demon Slayer who wore hanafuda-like earrings. And maybe, of that strange woman too— what are the odds of her being the slayer with the _dokuchi _type of blood?

* * *

**(~×~)**

* * *

My body felt sluggish as I gradually came back to reality— I could feel my consciousness gradually returning back to me as the far away sounds slowly became more and more clear.

"—the lady?"

"—be just—"

As I slowly gained consciousness, I started feeling things around me as well— the auras of the people near me and the immense pain in every inch of my body.

"—she may feel the effects for a few more days." Said a familiar female voice.

_'...Tamayo.' _My brain concluded as I could feel her serene, thick aura. Her aura always felt like a cool puddle of darkness; strangely calming as well as very immersive.

"Isn't treating human wounds unbearable for you?" A much younger, gentler voice followed.

_'Tanjiro.'_

"You think demons treat humans while choking back their own drool at the smell of blood?" I could almost hear Yushiro growl at Tanjiro, like always.

I inwardly smiled as I slowly started to grasp my body's control back. The pain I had previously felt was still present, but much, _much _lesser than before.

_'What could've caused that_—_' _  
I groaned loudly as I tried to move my hand and felt excruciatingly sharp pain in almost every joint in my said hand.

"Don't move too much, Miyasha." Tamayo's serene voice stopped me from moving, "Kibutsuji's blood is still not out of your system..."

"W-What?" Muzan's blood? In my body? How—!?

"He..." Tanjiro started, "He attacked you when you were passing us by."

I slowly opened my eyes, flinching when I felt a piercing pain in my head.

Why the hell was _I attacked?! _  
Wasn't some other man attacked in the manga— how did that change to me?!

"How are you feeling?" Tamayo gently asked as she offered me some water to drink.

"Painful." I answered simply, trying to get up but flinching instantly as I felt this intense pain in almost all of the joints in my body, "All the joints in my body feel a very sharp pain whenever I move and my blood... it seems as if someone had set it on _fire._"

"I understand," she nodded as she slowly handed me a glass of water and helped me hold it as I drank some from it, "I used the wisteria injection in your satchel. I hope you don't—"

"Of course not." I instantly answered, "God knows I needed that. My body still feels so stiff and painful as if the Reaper just assaulted me, who knows what would've happened if you didn't treated me on time, Tamayo-nee."

The gentle demon smiled, taking the glass of water away from me, "The effects of the demon blood in your system may take some time to leave your body, so you might experience the pain you are feeling now, for a few more days."

"Dammit." I cursed loudly, "My luck is the worst of all."

Maybe I just shouldn't have gone there like a fucking hypocrite I was. Now I understand why the hell people said 'curiosity killed the cat', because it honestly did get me almost killed too.

"Was it really your bad luck," Yushiro started, making me slowly turn towards his scowling face beside Tanjiro's confused one, "Or did you knew about it before?"

Ah, always the suspicious one, our little loverboy.

"You have no idea how bad my luck can be." I answered coolly, too used to answering back to his suspicions, "Sometimes she even surprises me with how vengeful she can get."

"I'm glad no one was harmed." Tamayo intervened, smiling at me as she moved to remove her white doctor's apron (or whatever it was called...).

"I'm glad too," I agreed with her, "But the pain I feel is almost _not _worth it." She smiled at my whining while folding her apron and keeping it back into her cupboard.

"How..." Tanjiro stumbled upon his words, looking at me with genuine confusion in his eyes, "How didn't you change into a demon?"

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I answered him, "Because my blood won't allow it." I opened my eyes and looked directly into his dark red irises.

"Maybe," Tamayo gently started, looking at me from the corner of her eyes, "We can talk about it the other room?"

My heart skipped a beat at that— and not in a romantic way. This is why I hated being involved and explaining myself.

And the worst thing is, that I desperately need to do this now, or else Tanjiro will be extremely suspicious of me, not to mention my fellow doctor and his lover boy too.

Why in the name of Heaven and Earth did I even come to this city...

* * *

_**Ookay! Here's the next chapter~ **_  
_**Damn, I've been on fire lately xD My friends are like "so much productivity should not be possible nor healthy."**_

_**I mean, why wouldn't I be? We are finally into the plot! And this means we'll meet others soon~**_

_**I just really, ****really**** can't wait to write up the next chapter too- especially since the next one is going to be from our dear Tanjiro's point of view! (that I'm dreading to write too)**_

_**It'll be my first canon character point of view writing, so please wish me luck! Also, because of that, it may take me a tad bit more time to write and upload it**—** so please have some patience with me!**_

_**Now, onto the ****reviews~**_

**Yuelinori****: **_**Heyy! Thank you so much for your kind comment! And yes, I'm excited to show you all what Muzan will do when she actually starts causing havoc with it xD and I can't wait to actually write when she meets Oyakata-sama!**_

**Anseo**:**_ Your comment honestly just made me smile the whole time I was writing this chapter _T^T _Thank you so much for giving this fanfic a chance! I really hope you like this chapter!_**

**TheBlueAmethyst:_ Stop predicting the plot of my fanfic, please xD And yes, there will be a lot of her 'super-duper cool spy' action in the future chapters_**— _**the one I showed in this one is just a small glimpse~ And yes, the demon slayers know about her too :) I'm not gonna spoil you further than that though xD and thank you so much for your comment! It literally got me through this chapter, if In were to be honest!**_

**Guest****:_ Heya! Thank you so much for giving this fanfic a chance! And no, it's not exactly a Self-Insert, but one can count it as one! And no, it's not the brothel mentioned in the manga either—_** **_that was the red district one and I'll explain it further in the future chapters, so please stay tuned!_**

**Karindan:_ Ah, I understand why it may come across as such. Thank you so much for pointing that for me! I really hope this chapter explained her not joining a little more, and if didn't, then I'll try to explain it even better in future chapters! Thank you so much for giving this fanfic a chance!_**

**Einkley****: _To be honest, I was playing with this idea of different kind of blood type for quite a while_****_— I'm really glad you liked it! Ugh, I know I messed up the time frame and with the late explanation, it may seem quite a bit confusing... I promise I'll try my best to avoid that in the future chapters and thank you so much for pointing that out to me! I really hope you enjoy this chapter as well! You stay safe and healthy too, dearie! _**

**_And that's all for the reviews_****_— these many reviews honestly made me was motivated and happy that I really can't express. _**_**Please keep review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe, stay healthy and stay tuned for more!**_


	22. Chapter 20

"May I help you?"

She looked up at him with the same startled look as she did when he had woken up on her lap, about two weeks ago.

"Oh, it'll be really kind of you, if you could." She answered politely with a small smile, which made Tanjiro smile back at her as he slipped her arm around his shoulder.

Tanjiro really couldn't help but wonder who this female was— _Miyasha _was what the female demon from earlier, called her didn't she?

"Just leave me against that wall please," she pointed towards the wall beside the cabinet, "I hope you won't mind if I sit there, Tamayo-nee."

"I won't." Tanjiro could easily hear the smile in her voice, making him wonder if they really were sisters or the honorific was used just to display attachment.

_'They look quite similar...' _Tanjiro quickly stole a look between the two females, noticing the similar kind of hairstyle (though Miyasha's was parted in the side) and the rather pale skin. Though, nothing else could be exactly claimed to be similar between those two beyond that— even Miyasha's eyes were a more bluish shade than the demon's. But... _'They both are quite beautiful.'_

"Ah, thank you, dear." She gave him a bright smile as he slowly deposited her against the wall.

Before he could ask her if she was the one who helped him a few weeks ago or not, Nezuko plopped down on the floor near them, grabbing Tanjiro's attention.

"Hey, Nezuko, that's bad manners!" Tanjiro scolded his younger sister, noticing how the older females in the room smiled at their exchange.

"That's quite all right." The demon's voice gently intervened, "Please make yourselves at home." Tanjiro smiled gratefully at her, taking a seat beside his sister as she looked at him with her pink demonic eyes.

"Does that offer extends to me too?" The raven-haired female asked, smiling playful at the demon in front of her, "Because if it doesn't, I really need it to. My body refuses to forgive me for the stunt I pulled back today evening."

"It's your fault only that you got hurt." the male demon taunted her, making raven haired female smirk at him.

"I agree, Shiro-kun, I really shouldn't have gone nea—"

"Stop calling me that!" He interrupted her, glaring at her intensely as she gave him a close-eyed smile and teased, "But Tama-nee finds it cute, do you not nechan~?"

The older female shook her head at their banter, smiling mischievously as she agreed, "Yes, I do."

He watched amusingly as the only other male in the room blushed red, and while one female shook her head and looked away, the other one chuckled in victory.

_'How does she knows them?'_ He wondered as he peeked at the chuckling female against the wall. She was not a demon and he was sure of it— her smell was very odd but still of a human's.

She smelled of herbs and flowers— with a strange undertone of blood and something else he just couldn't place. But the most bizarre thing was that the smell of blood that originated from her, didn't scare him or rub him the wrong way at all. Maybe because it didn't smell copper-ish as normally human blood did, but neither did it quite smell like the musty odour of demon blood.

_'Who is she?'_ He wondered, not for the first time that evening, as he noticed her smiling softly while she watched Nezuko crawl around the floor.

"Now then, I never introduced myself, did I?" The brunette demon started, drawing his attention towards her. "My name is Tamayo. And that boy is Yushiro. I hope that you'll be his friend."

Tanjiro hesitantly peeked at the demon sitting perpendicular to him. _'I don't think that's gonna happen...'_ he thought fearfully as he noticed the said boy glaring at the floor and hissing intensely.

"He'll gain friends only when he learns how to not squint his eyes at others while hissing like a cat." Yushiro glared at the owner of the voice, hissing even louder as he noticed the girl grinning back at him.

"Miyasha, don't be an instigator." Tamayo reprimanded her, making the said female pout, "And the girl sitting there is Sarota Miyasha. She has been our acquaintance for about three years and is also a very skilled doctor."

_'Acquaintance... So, they really aren't sisters.'_

"You're too kind, Tamayo-nee." Miyasha commented back, smiling genuinely at her. "And please call me by my first name, if you don't have any issues with it."

"Hai, Miyasha-san." He replied back, "I'm Kamado Tanjiro, and this is my sister, Kamado Nezuko. And please call me by my first name, too."

"It's nice to meet you, Tanjiro-san, Nezuko-san." She smiled down at the pink-eyed demon, "Ah, and Tanjiro-san, would you mind if I ask you about your and your sister's age?"

That took Tanjiro by surprise, "Oh, I am fifteen and Nezuko is going to turn fourteen by the end of this year." He noticed how her eyes dulled as he said this, an instant smell of strong anger and sadness invaded his nose—

"I'm sorry for asking about it so suddenly." She replied, straightening her posture as much as she could without flinching too much, "It's just, she looked too... young." She gazed at Nezuko with unreadable emotions in her eyes, though she still held a small smile on her lips which looked sadder than it did before.

"That's because she can turn smaller." He replied back, making her blink in confusion, "I ask her to turn into a child, so, that I can carry her in this box while the sun is out."

"That's... actually very smart." She praised him, making a strange bashfulness come over him. "Regardless," she continued, looking at Tanjiro with a softer smile, "Allow me to continue where we left of."

"I... have a distinct kind of blood, which I am not aware of any other human ever possessing before me. My blood turns corrosive in nature when it comes in contact with demon blood or flesh; thus, disabling my body from turning into a demon even when I was injected demon blood directly by someone as Muzan."

"Corrosive...?" Tanjiro asked tentatively, still not clear on that concept.

"Yes, corrosive." Her dark lavender eyes stared down at the palm of her hands, "It burns the flesh and blood of a demon, and disintegrates it just as sunlight does to one."

His eyes widened at that; Tanjiro somehow knew that she was not lying, and he didn't even need to smell her for that— her posture and the look in her eyes were strangely very genuine.

"But..." he asked cautiously, "How did Tamayo-san treat you, then? I mean, if your blood could..."

"Because she didn't need to 'treat' me," she continued, smiling at Tamayo as she gestured at the back of her neck, "My blood allows me to heal faster than other humans. That is why she didn't need to come in contact with it. The wound that Muzan gave me is halfway already healed, albeit, still pains a lot."

"So, the blood is what reacts with—"

"Yes." She confirmed, "I can touch a demon normally, but if I'm bleeding, then I'll rather avoid to make contact with any demons near me."

Tanjiro thought for a while, evaluating the information he just got, "That means the demon blood disintegrated in your body when it entered?"

"Most likely, yes. Along with damaging the nearby cells when it did, thus weakening my body in the process of it." Miyasha answered smoothly, "It affected me even more since it was the blood from a higher demon— or maybe I should say, _**the **_demon."

"What...?"

"She means," Tamayo explained, "That Kibutsuji's blood, as a higher demon and the first demon himself, is very concentrated in nature which resulted in it reacting even more with her blood."

"After all," Miyasha mused out loud, "Higher demons do have the ability to transform humans into demons as well."

"They can?" Tanjiro asked, thoroughly confused with the information he was provided, "But..."

"You are right," Tamayo explained, "It's generally held that no one but Kibutsuji can reproduce demons. That's more or less accurate. But higher demons can transform humans into demons as well. After more than 200 years, I was only able to transform Yushiro into a demon after all."

_'Two... Two hundred years...' _Tanjiro's mind raced with the thought.

"You were only able to transform Yushiro after more than Two hundred years?!" He yelled ad he slapped his forehead in disbelief, "Exactly how old are you, Tamayo-san?!"

Just as he asked that, he got a few brutal punches delivered by Yushiro on his diaphragm, making him breathless and not in a good way.

"Don't ask a lady her age, you ill-mannered scoundrel!" Yushiro poked his fingers harshly on the boy's chest as he yelled.

"Yushiro," Tamayo called out the angry male's name, "The next time you hit that boy, I'll make you regret it!" Tamayo warned, making Yushiro instantly sit back in his place with an obedient nod.

Tanjiro coughed from discomfort, trying to get back air in his lungs as he heard Miyasha calling his sister. He turned to see her signalling for his sister to come near as she waved a small bamboo bottle at her, "Give this to your brother so that it eases his discomfort."

Tanjiro instantly drinks the water in the bottle, easing a little bit of the discomfort in his chest. "Thank you, Miyasha-san."

"There's one thing I'd like to clear up with you." Tamayo started, effectively pulling him back into the conversation, "I'm not trying to create more demons. I only perform the procedure on the terminally ill or those who are so gravely injured that they don't have long to live. And in those cases, I always ask them beforehand if they wish to live on even as demons."

Tanjiro closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on her scent. _'The scent she's giving off is pure and devoid of any deception. She's someone I can trust.'_

"But..." he hesitantly began to ask, fearing Yushiro's reaction at his question, "How do you treat humans—"

"—without giving into the temptation?" Miyasha completed his sentence, smiling at him as she readjusted her position against the wall, again, "Because Tamayo-nee has tweaked her body considerably, enabling her body to sustain on as little blood as she could and to also remove Muzan's curse."

"Yes," Tamayo agreed, "Just as Miyasha said, I adjusted our bodies so that we can live without devouring humans. A small amount of human blood is all we need."

"Blood? You mean..."

"You may find it distasteful, but what I do is buy blood under guise of transfusions from those unable to make ends meet. Of course, no more than what would impair them. Yushiro can get by with even less blood, since I turned him into a demon."

_'I see.' _Tanjiro mused, _'So, that's why I'm not picking up that strange scent unique to demons from these two. But they do need human blood after all. If blood is all they need, then Nezuko...'_

"Tamayo-san, Miyasha-san," Tanjiro started, clutching his fists tighter as he set his resolve, "Is there a way to return a transformed demon back to human form?"

Miyasha and Tamayo exchanged a look. Upon a nod from Miyasha, Tamayo started hesitantly, "There is a way to turn a demon... back into a human."

Tanjiro gasped, finally finding a hope to turn his sister back to the way she once was, "Please tell me how!" He yelled, almost getting up in his desperation when suddenly Yushiro threw him back onto the floor.

"Yushiro..." Tamayo called him again, this time thoroughly unamused with his tactics.

Yushiro sat back onto his place, sparkling as he replied "Yes ma'am! I only threw him, Tamayo-sama. I did not hit him."

"Smartass," Miyasha commented offhandedly, "Though, he is not exactly wrong."

"Do not encourage him, Miyasha." Tamayo curtly replied, "And Yushiro, you mustn't do that either."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Tanjiro gently rubbed his sore neck and back, not finding any humour in the situation as Miyasha had, "Please tell me how." He repeated tentatively.

"For now," Miyasha began, "There is no exact way to turn a demon back into a human. However, a medicine can be made that can achieve this miracle, but that will need some time and a few... types of blood for her to study."

"To produce such an elixir," Tamayo continued after her, "It is necessary to study the blood of numerous demons. I have two favours to ask of you, Tanjiro-san. One, permission to study your sister's blood. Two, to retrieve blood samples from demons as closely related to Kibutsuji as possible."

Tamayo looked down at the younger demon rolling on the floor, "Nezuko-san's current condition is extremely rare and unique. I understand that she was asleep for two straight years, and I believe that her body underwent changes during that time. Normally, any demon who went that long without consuming the flesh or blood of a human or beast would unquestionably go berserk. And yet, surprisingly, she shows none of those signs. This miracle will be the key to finding a solution."

_'Nezuko...'_ Tanjiro gently caressed his sister's face, watching soberly as she happily grabbed his hand with both of hers.

"The second request I ask of you is a harsh one." Tamayo declared, her eyes looking at him guiltily, "By the 'demons closely related to Kibutsuji', I meant demons whose powers are more on par with that of Kibutsuji himself. It won't be easy to extract blood from such demons. Are you still willing to go along with my requests?"

Tanjiro looked down at his little sister. _'There is no question about it.'_

"If there's no other way, then I'll do it." He declared, "If it means you're going to research all these demon's blood and create this medicine... If that happens, then that means it won't just be Nezuko." He smiled at the two women in front of her, "Lots of other people will be saved, too, right?"

Tamayo's eyes widened. "That's right." She smiled kindly at him, making him blush at her immense beauty. Tanjiro instantly closed his eyes as he noticed Yushiro growling at him, ready to take any of his beating bravely.

Suddenly Miyasha jolted up, "Everyone, take cover! Get down!" She yelled as she instantly covered him and dragged him and his sister to the side of the room.

Yushiro jumped to cover Tamayo as a ball pierced the wall and wrecked through the whole room with an incredible amount of force.

That is when he noticed that it was not just one ball, but two. It broke through the wall back to its owner, crumbling the whole barricade which enabled them to get a good look on the two demons attacking them.

"Did you decide how to kill them?" The male one asked maliciously, which the female on replied with "Vindictively, of course!" as she threw her two coloured balls with a crazed look on her face.

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he noticed the orange-eyed demon cackle with glee, _'A tamari...! So, she caused all this damage by throwing that temari?'_

"Yushiro," the lady covering him called out, "Go to the corner of the room and take cover, _**now.**_" Tanjiro's eyes widened when he noticed her harshly ordering the lavender-eyed demon. "I'll cover you two for now, just go—"

Suddenly the two temari balls reappeared; changing their directions and bouncing off the walls as if the demon was controlling its movements.

"Don't move from here." He heard her whisper as clear as day when suddenly her comforting embrace disappear from around them.

"Miya—" his eyes widened in surprise when he noticed her retrieving two large folding fans made from some _**very sharp blades **_from inside the sleeves of her haori.

Tanjiro was pushed back harshly as he hugged his sister tighter when a ball passed just an inch away from their faces. "Tamayo-sama!" He heard Yushiro yell making him turn over to look as the male demon was attacked—

"Yushiro!" Miyasha harshly yelled, her fans blocking the temari just at the last moment, "Go. Hide. Somewhere. Right. Fucking **NOW.**" He could almost see the veins in her neck popping as she harshly kept the ball away from the two demons.

"Tanjiro!" She called him out this time, her bluish-violet eyes shining with a strange seriousness, "Will you help me fight? I am in no actual condition to take them head-on, alone."

"Miyasha-san, you should rest and—"

"I can still fight," she cut him off blatantly, her gaze now focused on the two demons in front of them, "But I will need some major help, specifically for that male demon."

Tanjiro also faced forward, noticing the strange presence of the two demons. _'They are giving off a totally different scent than any of the demons! Are they stronger? It's a really thick scent! It feels so heavy once it enters my lungs.'_

"Hm?" The orange-eyed demon hummed, smiling as she stated "The demon Hunter wearing hanafuda-like earrings... It's you, isn't it?"

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he heard that, _'So, I'm the one they're targeting?'_

"Tamayo-san, Yushiro-san! Please go inside and hide!" Tanjiro declared loudly as he looked back at them, "I'm the one those demons are after!"

"Tanjiro-san," Tamayo soberly said, "I want you to fight without worrying about us. We'll be fine without your protection... Since we're demons."

"Tamayo—" Miyasha started with a notable irritation in her voice before Tamayo cut her off by saying, "Miyasha, you are the one who should take cover and hide. You are in no condition to fight! Do not try to over-exert yourself or you _**will **_die this time."

"—it's all over for you now!" The female demon screamed, grabbing both his and Miyasha's attention as she threw her two temaris towards them again.

_'That temari will only swerve if you dodge it.' _Tanjiro deduced, deciding to use the seventh form of water breathing technique, Drop Ripple Thrust-curve, to soften the temari's blow. Unfortunately, it still moved despite it being stuck on on his sword.

_'How can that temari move around like that?' _He thought as he looked at Miyasha beside him, who dodged the one trying to attack her, _'It swerved unnaturally before too, when it almost attacked Yushiro-san! It's not like it's spinning in any special way, and yet... What is this?'_

"Tamayo-sama, didn't I tell you?" Yushiro suddenly yelled out, grabbing Tanjiro's attention, "That we shouldn't have gotten involved with that demon slayer from the start! My blindfold technique is still a work in progress! I may be able to conceal the presence of building and people and even their scent, but I cannot mask their very existence!"

_'That's why I couldn't smell the demons until they already attacked us...'_

"Yushiro!" Miyasha growled, "Quit bitching and start helping, if you want any of us to actually get out alive!" Her eyes flashed in annoyance as she noticed the demon in front of them cackling, "Only you are the one who can see those damn bloody directions! Help Tanjiro to see them while we—"

"What fun this is!" The orange-eyed demon's voice echoed, effectively shutting any ongoing conversations up. "To be killed by me, one of the Twelve Demon Moons... You should be honoured!"

"Twelve Demon Moons?" Tanjiro mused quizzically, as Miyasha explained it for him, "They are the strongest twelve of their kind," she narrowed her eyes on the demon in front of them, "Serving directly under Muzan as his own personal set of bodyguards. They are the ones with the highest concentration of Muzan's blood."

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he processed the information, looking even more troubled as he noticed the demon discarded her haori and opened her kimono to produce four additional arms, along with several more temari balls.

"Now then, let's keep playing! Until the morning comes!" She called menacingly, throwing all of her six temaris at them, "Until you all die!"

"Hey! Moron demon hunter!" Yushiro yelled, holding Tamayo tightly in his embrace as he tried to protect her, "Look at the arrows! You can tell which direction they are going if you just see the—"

"He can't _**see**_ them!" Miyasha answered back, instantly cutting off three temaris which were approaching towards Tamayo and Yushiro. Tanjiro silently watched as those temaris disintegrated after came in contact with her fans.

_'But, how-'_

"Seriously, you can't even see them?" Yushiro growled as he produced a paper with his blood demon technique, "I'm going to lend you my sense of sight! That should at least enable you to behead that temari woman!" His eyes glowed as threw the paper towards him and stuck it onto his forehead enabling him to see the red arrows directing the movement of the balls.

_'I can see now! She was using these arrows to control...' _he noticed several of the balls approaching him, _'...the trajectory of the temari!'_

"Thanks, Yushiro-san," Tanjiro thanked the lavender-eyed demon, "I can see the arrows now, too!"

"Then hurry up and go outside!" Miyasha directed, "It is more dangerous for you to try to attack them in such a constricted place!"

"Hai!" Tanjiro looked back his sister, "Nezuko, let's go outside! Take care of the demon up in the tree!" As Nezuko nodded, both the Kamado siblings rushed outside, the temari balls following them behind. "Miyasha-san, please stay inside! We'll be able to handle it from here!"

"I'm the one you want to take on!" Tanjiro declared, ready with his sword in his hands.

"The demon Hunter wearing hanafuda-like earrings... no question." She grinned, "I'm going to bring that heads of yours to him." She cackled loudly as she saw him gasp, "What fun this is!"

* * *

_**This is the first installation of my double update today! Let me just edit the next chapter (and the last chapter of this arc) and then I'll reply to all your reviews and queries! **_

_**Hope you enjoy this chapter! And if you did, please review! They make me feel motivated to write more!**_


	23. Chapter 21

_'Okay, okay, okay, okay_—_' _I took in a deep breath to bring me back to the present, because God fucking dammit, it bloody _**hurts.**_

The sharp piercing pain in my joints was almost bloody unbearable— even with all the shit amount of adrenaline rush my body was going through right now. I was honestly in no condition to fight— which even Tamayo noticed.

"Take cover, Miyasha!" Tamayo insisted, gently tugging the long-ass sleeve of my haori, "I can see how much this is draining you... You haven't recovered enough to engage in a fight yet—"

"I know!" I gritted my teeth as I noticed Tanjiro and Nezuko exiting the house, "But it would be very unfair to just let them fight alone! They are _kids_, Tamayo! _**Kids!**_"

I fiercely looked into her eyes, those almost pupil-less purple abyss, "At least let me guide them." I requested, suddenly feeling guilty for yelling at her. It was quite stressful, fighting alongside people I was not yet used to.

Tamayo nodded, slowly getting up with help of Yushiro as we moved towards the crumbled walls of the house.

_'They would have to change location again...' _I thought wistfully, _'Maybe when this fight is over, I can help them relocate_—_'_

"Tamayo-san!" I looked up to Tanjiro, who kneeling just behind the temari-demon after he had cut off all her arms, "Are these two demons closely related to Kibutsuji?"

Tamayo contemplated over this and declared that they most likely were.

_'They weren't though, were they?' _Even though my memory of the manga and anime was slightly fogged, it did not mean I couldn't remember the basic of the plot details—

"Then, I'm going to extract blood from them for sure!" Tanjiro declared, determination blazing in his eyes.

Suddenly the demon started cackling loudly, regenerating her six arm within the fraction of a second as her cut-off limbs disintegrated slowly. "You think you're going to extract blood from us? I don't know what you are scheming," She grinned maniacally at us, making me and Yushiro stand protectively in front of Tamayo, "But I won't allow you to do anything to displease him!"

Tanjiro took a step back at her deranged smile as she had turned backwards to face him, "If you think you can extract blood from us Twelve Demon Moons, have at it!"

"Watch your back!" Yushiro instructed, "Don't let your guard down for a second! If those two really are Twelve Demon Moons, then they're undeniably more formidable than any other demon you've killed until now!"

"Right! Understood!" Tanjiro replied back, repeating what Yushiro said as a mantra. "Right! I'll do my best!"

"Tamayo-sama!" Yushiro started, "Let's use those two as decoys and escape." Upon my intense glare and Tamayo's shocked expression, he instantly claimed it as a joke.

_'Joke, my ass.' _I glared at him one last time before focusing on the fight going on before us.

"I'm going to bring that head of yours to him—" the demon gloated loudly, just as Nezuko was suddenly pushed onto Tanjiro. "Now then, why don't you both die at once?"

_'Can I really not take one of them on my own?' _I asked myself again, already knowing the answer to that question. Fuck me and my fucking bad decisions and my fucking curiosity for going near Muzan despite my better judgement.

"Hey, demon hunter!" Yushiro called Tanjiro again, "You get rid of that arrow man first! We'll take on the temari woman with your sister!"

"Understood!"

I glared at the fans in my hands intensely, gripping them tightly as my knuckled turned white. _'Even Yushiro is helping them more than I fucking am. And he didn't even wanted to do that in the first place!'_

"Oi, woman!" Yushiro called me, "Stop staring at your hands and get fighting!" I nodded silently at his instructions and moved out, noticing the demon being distracted by Nezuko.

Without a moment's notice, Yushiro sprinted towards the temari-demon and used his blood demon technique to vanish, making the said demon very confused.

Using the opportunity presented to me, I opened my fans and jumped right in, slashing her arms deeply just as Yushiro kicked her while being invisible. This caused two pair of her upper arms being cut-off, degenerating instantly as it fell to the ground.

_'Fuck.' _I cursed inwardly, _'There's not enough blood coated on these fans! I cannot poison her if I don't coat them again!'_

Not to mention that I couldn't actually behead her due to my lack of strength and the fans not being an effective weapon to do so with.

"You hurt Tamayo-san!" Yushiro started, furiously pointing his finger at the female demon in front of him. "I'll never forgive you for that!"

_'Jesus Christ... the amount of devotion and stubbornness this man has for Tamayo is borderline obsessive.' _I thought absent-mindedly as I made a cut on my left forefinger with the tip of a blade of my fan and let the blood drizzle over the fans generously.

"Tamayo...?" The arrow-demon mused, "Hey, Susamaru, the one over there... Wouldn't that be Tamayo, the Fugitive? What a great souvenir she'll make!"

"Is that right...?" The temari-demon said, before trying to regenerate her arms, "What...? Why can't I-?!"

I immediately sprinted towards the demon, intending to inject her with as much of my blood as I could. Noticing me rapidly moving towards her, she instantly threw as many temari balls as she could towards me and Nezuko. I redirected my path, jumping away from her as I slashed her face and collar bone; her blood splattering over my own face as I instantly closed my eyes to avoid getting them injured.

I heard Yushiro and Tamayo yell as I fell unceremoniously at the ground nearby, instantly being dragged by someone as I felt something pass by me at a high speed.

"Oi, baka!" Yushiro seethed near me, "Can you not attack them without injuring yourself?!"

"I'm not injured..." I half-heartedly replied as I instantly rubbed off the demon blood on my face by the sleeve of my haori, "And avoid touching me, unless _you _want to be injured." I made a playful jab as I moved my closed fans even further away from him.

"What fun this is!" The temari-demon kept repeating, as she finally regenerated her arms back after kicking Nezuko back into the house.

"Did you inject her with your blood or not?!" Yushiro asked me urgently as he noticed her talking to her partner about bringing our heads back home.

"I did but..." I looked at the nasty slash wounds at her face and collar bone area, "It may take a while to to show effects! She's a higher level demon, after all."

Yushiro cursed as he finally got up from the ground, slowly helping me off as we moved from the demon's sight. Unfortunately, the temari-demon noticed this as she instantly started bouncing her temari balls forcefully on the ground to create as much dust as she could.

"Yushiro," I whispered as the thick dust clouds covered our sight, "Leave me here for now. Go attack her."

"What the hell are yo—"

"Just trust me on this, okay?" I pleaded, "You can't avoid her attacks with me as a baggage!"

"But you will die if I leave you here!"

"I won't! Just do what I say, please." Yushiro glowered at me for a few seconds, finally loosening his grip on my shoulders.

"Don't die." Was the only thing he said before sprinting off to attack that demon woman. I instantly limped off to the side of the house, avoiding any kind of detection from either side of the fights.

_'Fuck, fuck, fuck!' _I cursed as I felt immense pain at my left ankle and right hand's wrist, _'My movement is seriously impaired! I fucking shouldn't have gotten involved in all of this __**at all.**__' _I thought bitterly as I suddenly felt Tanjiro's aura flair and the arrow-demon's aura significantly lower down.

_'Wait, what is happening-' _My eyes widened as I saw Tanjiro being plunged around by an invisible force. I instantly got up on my feet, moving as fast I could towards where Tanjiro and that blind demon were fighting.

What I noticed there was a decapitated demon cursing loudly at Tanjiro as the boy himself was plunged around by what I assumed to be his demon blood art technique.

_'What should I do_—_' _My eyes widened ad I noticed him using his breathing technique to break down the obstacle and somewhat change the direction of his 'flying'. I looked down at the demon who hadn't noticed me yet and mused if I should use my blood on it or not. _'No time to think, Miyasha. Just do it!'_

I immediately retrieved my fans and sliced open the same cut on my left forefinger, making it bleed even more. Sprinting towards the demon with as much speed as I could, I generously drizzled its head with fine droplets of my blood.

"What is thi—" the demon let out an unholy scream as its skin melted off of its bones and caught the unnatural white flames my blood always brought. Even its body started disintegrating faster, falling like ashes onto the ground.

I instantly wiped one of my fans clean with my haori and threw it towards the direction of the body of the demon. The fan clashed with the already fallen body, inflicting a wound on it as it clattered nearby. I watched as the blood from the wound started dripping onto my fan without combusting.

I finally looked up after that— my eyes following onto where Tanjiro could be and saw him free falling from almost five meter above the ground.

_'Oh shit_—_' _I ran towards him, jumping at the last moment to cushion his fall with my body— which I would have almost missed if I hadn't jumped.

His body harshly landed over mine, making me lose all my breath as I felt the force of his fall. Tanjiro gasped loudly, gulping as much air as he could. He instantly tensed though, when I groaned loudly, immediately trying to move away from on top of me before sprawling back onto my stomach.

"I'm sorry, Miyasha-san! I didn't mean to fall on top of you—"

"No," I immediately cut him off, "You didn't mean to, but I did. You would have broken quite a few bones if you had fallen directly onto the ground, not that you might not already have a few broken ones with all that flying around."

"I'm so sorry!" He loudly apologized, again trying to get up from on top of my stomach before I stopped him.

"Calm down, boy." I commented, mildly annoyed with our awkward situation and my immense back pain, "Let me help you. You are clearly too exhausted to even move around properly." I slowly got myself up to a sitting position and helped Tanjiro move to the ground beside me.

When he started trying to stand up, I tugged him back onto the ground. "Sit down here. And do not move."

"B-But, there's still one more demon-"

"They will be fine." I sharply conveyed, "They can fight very well, not to mention you may very well have some fractured bones and internal bleeding—"

I was rudely interrupted by an unholy scream, this time of the temari-demon's.

Bile rose to my face as she came into our view with her face and chest melting off of her bones. Her internal organs became visible to us as its skin and bones liquefied, and caught fire simultaneously.

I could hear Tanjiro gasping in horror, watching the demise of the demon just as I did. I closed my eyes as I heard her dying groans; pitiful even as they were, they made me feel more of a monster than I already thought myself to be.

After a few minutes of nothing but silence and the sound of the flames, Tanjiro looked up and asked, "Did she just... die?"

Before I could answer, Tamayo answered for me. "She will die momentarily."

"That's..." I started hesitantly, looking at the remains of the demon in front of me, "That's the effect of my blood on demons." I simply stated. I didn't knew how to explain it in any other way, and I didn't know if I even could.

Tanjiro looked at me with eyes that were filled with so many emotions— too many for me to even want to decipher. I looked away and focused all my attention in attempting to stand up.

"Tanjiro-san," Tamayo called out, "She is not one of the Twelve Demons."

"Yes, she isn't." I agreed, looking down at Tanjiro, who was still attempting to sit straight, "A Demon Moon has their number engraved on their eyeballs, which neither of the two did." I looked back at the demon remains sprawled around on the ground in front of us, "Though, that did not mean that these two were not as strong as a lower moon."

"Lower... moon?" Tanjiro asked tentatively.

"There are two... tiers of Demon Moons, you can say. The lower tier are the lower Demon Moons and the upper, stronger ones, are the upper Demon Moons." I explained, "The ones we just fought tonight, were almost equivalent to the lower six. Though, they didn't exactly use their full potential, thus, can be considered weaker than the lower six as well."

"Weaker?" Tanjiro asked in disbelief, "At that level?"

"Yes," Tamayo agreed. "She's right."

"Who knew there were such stupid demons?" Yushiro scowled at the corpse, "She physically injure Tamayo-sama. She got exactly what she deserved." I wisely chose not to comment on it, instead focusing Tamayo and Nezuko.

"Tamayo," I gently called, "That arrow-demon's corpse might have disintegrated by now, but I had managed to collect some of its blood onto my fan. You'll find it near the brick wall, somewhere perpendicular to us."

Tamayo nodded, instructing Yushiro to bring her some injections. "There is still one of the other demon's arm left from when Nezuko attacked her," Tamayo mentioned, "I can retrieve her blood from it as well then. I hope these blood samples will be instrumental in developing the healing serum."

"That's... That's good." I breathed in a deep breath. "Do you need my help, somewhere?"

"I need you to rest a few hours now, Miyasha." Tamayo gently stated, "You have lost a lot of blood and have also injured yourself at many places."

I didn't dare say anything else, knowing full well that I might anger a certain loverboy if I went against Tamayo.

"I'm going to take care of Nezuko." Tamayo declared, looking at me from the corner of her eyes, "I medicated her heavily and almost used my spell in front of her... I'm sorry." She slightly bowed to Tanjiro. "And Miyasha, please come inside and rest. You need to let your body heal from the effects of Kibutsuji's blood."

"I... I will."

Tamayo smiled one last time before going inside the house with Yushiro on her tail as he ordered us to not move a muscle.

"Ma... ri..." I gasped as I heard the demon's voice calling for her temari several, turning to see Tanjiro gather the toy and gently placing it near the demon's corpse.

"Here's your mari." He gently said, his eyes turning softer as he heard the demon asking for him to play with it.

_'How is she still... alive? Because of her left over arm...?' _I thought fleetingly as I stared at the sky.

As the Sun started rising, I looked up to watch the remaining bits of the demons gradually disintegrate. Tanjiro sat there in silence, contemplating a few things as he looked up to the slowly brightening sky.

"What are you thinking?" I softly asked.

"...There's no salvation for them." Tanjiro answered gravely, his eyes focused on the last temari ball in front him, "Even after they die, not even their bones remain... Is this the price they pay for killing others?"

"They might not exactly be aware of their doing." I started softly, looking up at the gradually brightening sky, "Even if they were humans before, their humanity and memories were stripped away from them as soon as they turned into a demon— most of them turning into one without even their consent."

"Miyasha-san," Tanjiro gently started, "Do you... do you think that all demons deserve this?"

I looked at Tanjiro, his figure still slumped in front of the temari ball. "No." I simply answered, musing if I should explain it or not, "Nothing is black and white in the world, Tanjiro. Demons, no matter how much we deny it, are just like humans— just with the lack of their human memories. They are the darkest part of their human selves, representing how evil one can become. They are unfortunately interpreted as filth rather than what they actually are: untold tragedies, thus, breeding hate and self-righteousness among the victims of these catastrophe."

I sighed loudly, "In the end, no demon deserves dying like this... Unfortunately, the only thing we can do is to kill and free them of their forced immortality." I ended, slowly turning to face Tanjiro, who seemed to be already staring at me.

"Do you think that about Kibutsuji, too?" Tanjiro asked tersely.

"Muzan... is a different thing entirely." I commented carefully, knowing the significance of the answer to Tanjiro, "He... has been around for too long; living with such an absolute power for so long that it has absolutely corrupted him, disabling him from seeing anything beyond his own self. His story may very well be a tragedy, but the ripples it caused are so drastic and catastrophic, that almost no one can agree to see him as a victim."

I closed my eyes after that, giving Tanjiro a chance to contemplate about everything and ask anything else, if he wanted to.

I could almost feel the first rays of sunlight on my face— the gentle breeze along with it felt heavenly to my body.

"You should go inside now, maybe." I offhandedly commented, breaking Tanjiro away from his thoughts.

"Hai."

"Can you walk now? Or should I help you walk?"

"Hai, Miyasha-san! No need to worry." Tanjiro replied gingerly as he walked towards the house, but suddenly halted as he turned his head back to look at me, "Miyasha-san?"

"Hai...?"

"Were you the person who helped me walk back home when I fainted... a few weeks ago?"

I smiled at him, "Yes, it was me."

Tanjiro now fully turned back to face me, bowing as he thanked me for helping him.

"It was my duty to help, silly." I softly smiled at him, "Now go to the basement of the house— Yushiro and Tamayo must have brought Nezuko there as they noticed the Sun rising. Also, do not forget to take your wooden box along with you when you go down, so that Nezuko doesn't have to come out in presence of sunlight at all."

"Hai, Miyasha-san."

I smiled one last time as I noticed Tanjiro leave. All this had been a very troublesome yet such an exciting ordeal.

_'It's time to leave now.' _I thought wistfully as a sudden grief took over me. I didn't want to leave.

_'But if I didn't...' _Then what?  
What if I didn't? Would it be so bad?

What if I actually could change things for the better? Save Rengoku, maybe? Protect people just like I wanted to? Was I ready to take that responsibility?

Was I?

"Miyasha-san!" I was pulled out of my thoughts as I heard someone calling me. I turned to see Tanjiro waving at me as he jogged up to me, "Miyasha-san," he huffed as he reached near me, "Would you like to travel with me?!"

* * *

**(~End of Blood Arc~)**

* * *

_**Soooo, this arc is over! I really hope you enjoyed the double upload today xD **_

_**I was feeling motivated as Hell these past few days and you guys' reviews and fav/follow just made me wanna write even more! And this fanfic has crossed 100 followers! OwO**_

_**As for the chapter, I think you all may have noticed how Miyasha didn't exactly had any role in the fight— not an actual direct one at least. That, my friends, was intentional. Not only was she 'injured' while all this happened, it was all too sudden for her despite her foreknowledge. Not to mention she still isn't sure of her actions yet, and her inner conflicts just make it worse for her. **_

_**So, overall, her involvement was less. Don't worry, I ain't gonna turn her into a wallflower— she is gonna pull her own weight, but till then, I'll make sure to highlight her overall conflict till then.**_

_**Now, for the replies! **_

**marrona****:_ Yep! Finally into the plot town xD _**

**Guest:_ I'm really glad you enjoyed! And yes, I can't wait to get to Zenitsu and Inosuke as well~_**

**Einklley****: _You guys catch onto things so fast xD So, yeah, it indeed is her blood type but any other info about it will only be disclosed a little later into the story_**_**— when we my Oyakata-sama. So please have wait for it with me!**_

**TheBlueAmethyst:**_** I absolutely love your ramblings and your predictions really help me to understand how you, as a reader, are perceiving things. Trust me when I say I actually look forward to your reviews xD Other than that, I am planning to keep adding interludes for other character's perspective too, don't ya worry. About her and Tamayo's meeting, I'll be disclosing about it on a later chapter**__**— she did a lot of things in the past four years, and all this will be slowly explained through out the fanfic. And daaaaaamn, you instantly got the reference and even translated the meaning of the blood type xD I'm so bloody impressed! You have some fucking amazing theories and I just can't help but admire them! And about the blood, it really is a game changer**__**— but with some proper set backs, especially for Miyasha. And about Sanemi's thought on it**__**— it'll be very funny, trust me. If I can actually write it well, you all will enjoy her interaction with the Hashiras. And lastly, thank you so much pointing out the tense change! For now, I've only edited that but i'm planning on to edit the misspelling and stuff on a much later date. THank you so much for your amazing comment! I'm genuinely all smiles while replying to this!**_

**mothedman:_ Ah, I indeed am going to continue with the manga after I finish with where the anime ends. But if I had my way and write it right, I'm planning to alter the manga plot quite a bit_**_**— essentially preventing some major character deaths. So, do look forward to it!**_

_**Now, we're done! And damn, these are soooo many reviews! This only makes me wanna cry TwT You all are too sweet! So, see you with the next update!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	24. Chapter 22

**(~Drum House Arc~) **

* * *

_'Just... how am I in this situation, again?' _I stared at the box in my hand, looking very intently at the handwritten note on it.

"That balm will help in blood clotting." Tamayo said absent-mindedly as she handed me another similar box from her cabinet, "And this one enhances healing abilities in humans. It may not be as good as the pastes you make, but are very effective. Maybe if you can use them alongside your own pastes, it would increase the healing process even more?"

"Maybe..." I trailed off, staring at the variety of boxes handed over to me.

"Are they... too much to carry?" Tamayo hesitantly asked.

"No," I disagreed, "They aren't, don't worry. None of them are bigger than the palm of my hand, and I can easily carry some in my haori too, in case it doesn't fit in my satchel."

"You should buy a new one." Yushiro added haughtily, "This old thing looks it could snap any moment!"

"My sensei gave that to me seven years ago when I started collecting herbs." I wistfully confessed, smiling sadly at the old white satchel. "For me, this carries more than just my daily essentials... that's why I am hesitant to discard it." I smiled at Yushiro as I started packing the small medicinal boxes into my satchel, "Thank you so much for all the medicines, Tamayo-nee. I'll make sure to use them to the fullest."

Tamayo smiled softly at me, her eyes softer and clearer than I've ever seen before, "Please take care of them."

A shiver went down my spine at the reminder, my mind still conflicted over the whole ordeal. "I... will try to." I answered cautiously as I slowly got up from the floor.

My body hissed with pain as I stood up— reminding me of my unfortunate meeting yesterday. Fortunately, the pain seemed more bearable now, since I had gotten a bit used to it. Unfortunately, I had gain a sprain in my right wrist and a nasty wound on my left heel during last night's fight, adding to my misery.

I sighed loudly as I adjusted the satchel over my shoulder. I wore it diagonally across my shoulders, making it feel less heavy than it actually was.

"Take care, and be safe, okay?" I looked at Tamayo and Yushiro with sombre look, making sure they understand the implication of my words. "If you need any help, do not hesitate to contact me."

"We will." Tamayo replied, smiling as she noticed my sullen look, "You take care as well. And please look after Tanjiro and Nezuko, at least till Tanjiro recovers from his broken rib, alright?"

I shook my head at her statement, knowing full well what she was trying to do. "No need to fool me, Tamayo-nee. I know exactly what you are trying to do."

Tamayo simply smiled, making me shake my head again and give her brief hug. She hugged me back tightly and patted my back just like how I often did to to her before when we hugged.

"We will meet again, okay?"

"Of course we will, Tama-nee. You ain't getting rid of me that easy."

"That's exactly what I was afraid of."

"Yushiro..."

* * *

"Arigato, Miyasha-san," Tanjiro thanked me again once we started our journey, "For travelling with us. I understand how difficult it must be for you—"

"It's nothing like that," I dismissed his 'thankful apologies', "Don't worry about it. I normally wander around anyway, so do not feel like you are interrupting anything important for me."

"Are you sure it is okay for you...?" Tanjiro hesitantly asked, the genuine worry in his question refraining me from snapping at him.

"Yes, dear. I am—"

"South-southeast!" The crow flying overhead yelled, making me jump at his voice.

_'T-The crow talks?!' _I almost smacked myself at my stupid thought, shaking my head at my own forgetfulness. _'Of course it does! Every demon slayer has their own Kasugai crow which are especially trained to guide their owners to their next mission.'_

"South-southeast!" The crow loudly yelled again, flying around in circles as it kept repeating the same thing, "Your next location is south-southeast!"

"I heard you!" Tanjiro relayed with a tired smile, "I heard you, so give me a break and quiet down!"

I couldn't help but smile as the crow came down to Tanjiro's level, almost yelling at his face as he kept begging the crow to politely shut up. The crow seemed to even increase its efforts as I started chuckling at the whole incident.

"Please!" The sudden yell made us momentarily pause— Tanjiro and his crow's eyes widened when they heard it, while I flinched at the loudness and in cringe for what was about to happen.

_'This is low-key the most embarrassing part of the whole anime...'_

We three (yes, I'm counting the crow as well) looked in the direction of the shouting, and noticed a young man kneeling before a girl, clutching her shoulders as he yelled 'please' again and again.

"Please marry me!" Zenitsu pathetically begged, "I could die any day, you know! That's why I want you to marry me! So please! Please, I'm begging you!"

I could feel myself get agitated at Zenitsu's behaviour— this kind of approach always annoyed me and watching it in the anime (I skipped the manga portion of this scene) was difficult enough, but in real life...

_'May God help me.'_

I marched towards the commotion, feeling my agitation changing into annoyance as I heard his loud whining.

_'Calm down, Miyasha,'_ I internally tried to reason with myself, _'It's not exactly his fault that he is like that... he never had any family or anyone to love and that's why he wants to feel loved before he—'_

"Please help me! Please marry-" I instantly grabbed the back of his bi-coloured haori, pulling him away from the distressed female he had been harassing.

"Oi!" I glowered at his crying face, vaguely noticing how smooth yet sad looking face he had, "Stop harassing the lady! What has she warranted to get this kind of treatment from you?!" I reprimanded him, pulling the girl behind me to put some distance between the two.

The girl with twin braids immediately hid behind my back, clutching my haori with a gentle grip.

"Stay out of my way! That girl is going to marry—" Zenitsu tried to jump ahead, but was immediately pulled back by Tanjiro.

"What do you think you're doing right in the middle of the road?" Tanjiro yelled, the annoyance in his voice was as clear as day. "Can't you see she wants no part of you? And don't go around making trouble for your sparrow, either!"

Zenitsu finally stopped crying; instead, he looked at Tanjiro intently before claiming he knew him from Final Selection which Tanjiro immediately denied, yelling at his face as I focused my attention back onto the female standing behind me.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" I kindly asked, giving her a close-eyed smile to make her feel comfortable with me.

"Hai." She smiled back brightly.

"Now, go back home. We'll take care of him from here on, okay?"

"I will. Thank you very much!" She bowed to me, when suddenly we heard Zenitsu yelling again.

"Hey! Stay out of my way! That girl is going to marry me! Because she's in love with me, all ri—" Zenitsu was unfortunately interrupted by a strong slap from the girl, making him kneel on the ground to protect himself from the incoming assault from the girl. "Hey! Ouch! That hurts! Stop it! Stop it! Ouch—"

"Ma'am!" I instantly caught her arms, dragging her away as gently as I could, from the blond boy, "Calm down, ma'am! Please!"

"When did I ever tell you that I loved you?" She yelled at Zenitsu as I held her back, pointing aggressively at him as he hid behind Tanjiro, "You were crumpled up on the side of the road looking ill, and all I did was speak to you!"

Zenitsu loudly gasped, yelling back, "You mean you didn't reach out to me out of love because you were worried?" It kind of broke my heart when I realized that maybe he never had that many people in his life to care about him in the first place, which made his perception about love so... simple and clingy.

"I already have a fiance, so not on your life! With all that energy, you must be fine now, right? Goodbye!" The girl finally turned to leave, making Zenitsu reach out to her but left being ignored.

"Look, cut it out!" Tanjiro insisted, seeming tired with all this sudden amount of craziness.

"Wh-Why'd both get in my way? This has nothing to do with you!" Zenitsu yelled at us, getting an expression— which was somewhat a cross between disgust and pity —from Tanjiro. I simply deadpanned at his theatrics, quickly evaluating how to handle this situation in the best way possible.

_'I don't want to scare him— after all, I would have to handle him for a few days... Not that it would be any longer than that.'_ I thought with wistful relief as I looked down at the whining blond boy.

"What's with that look on your faces?" Zenitsu yelled at us, "Stop that! Why are you staring at me like I'm a creature or something?" This time, he yelled at Tanjiro as he pointed aggressively at him.

"You both are responsible for it!" He kept screaming, "Since it's your fault that I missed out on getting married!"

I simply shook my head at this whole ordeal, wondering how I should handle Zenitsu. It's not like I hated him— I understood why he was so misguided and I knew all he needed was some actual guidance and maybe a bit scolding, but I don't think he'll ever listen to me, would he? I mean, I'm not Tanjiro—

Zenitsu suddenly looked at me with a strange look, making me immediately realize my position. But before I could say anything, Tanjiro pushed me back and glared at Zenitsu, "Don't even think about hitting on Miyasha-san. She is not interested in you and you will not pester her with your begging, alright?" Tanjiro muttered darkly, surprising both me and Zenitsu— though he looked more scared than surprised, if I were to be honest.

"I-I won't!" He defended himself with teary eyes, "I was just—" I interrupted him, trying to defuse the situation.

"First of all," I started him, "Stop screaming, please. Talk like a human and we will look at you like one. Second, stand up and stand apart! Aren't you a man? How do you expect anyone to marry you when you have no courage to even stand on your own?!"

Zenitsu stiffened, looking a bit conflicted. "But I'm horribly weak—"

"That is a temporary position. Anyone can become strong if they put their mind to it." I said encouragingly, trying to make him at least a little bit confident.

After a few beats of silence, I decided that it is high time we introduce ourselves. "I'm Sarota Miyasha," I began, smiling kindly at Zenitsu as I continued, "And I'm a... doctor, you can say. This young man here with me, is my travelling partner— and a demon slayer, as you already deduced —Kamado Tanjiro."

"Is that right? My apologies!" He yelled again, before sobering down as he looked at me, "I'm Agatsuma Zenitsu..."

"It's nice to meet you then, Zenitsu-san." I smiled gently at him, "Please refer to me by my first name, if you don't have any issue with it, okay?" I kind of felt bad for scaring him like that.

"Tanjiro-san," I started, "I think we should start moving. Your next mission is a bit further away, not to mention that standing here, wasting time can very well mean jeopardizing someone's life."

"Hai, Miyash—"

"W-Wait," Zenitsu interrupted, "Y-You guys are going? To a mission? Please don't!"

"Why so, Zenitsu-san?" I frowned, not exactly remembering anything like this happening in the plot.

_'I actually am altering many things though...' _I thought bitterly, as Zenitsu explain how we needed to save him. _'But all these are minor things, right? It won't affect much in the long run, would it?'_

"What was your reason for becoming a swordsman, Zenitsu?" Tanjiro asked soberly as he placed his hands on Zenitsu's shoulders. "Why are you being so blatantly shameless?" I could barely contain my laugh as Tanjiro unintentionally roasted him.

"That's a harsh way to to put it!" Zenitsu went into hysterics again, "I got swindled by a woman and racked up all this debt! The old man who took over for me was a cultivator!"

Zenitsu kneeled down after that, clutching his hair as he continued, "Day after day, I had to go through hellish training! It was so bad that I thought I'd be better off dead! I was hoping I could die during Final Selection! But since I was lucky enough to survive, I'm still going through hell every day!"

"I'm so scared! Scared! Scared! Sca—" I kneeled down and gently gripped Zenitsu's face, making him stop his hysteria instantly. He was still gasping as I looked over his tear stained face.

He had very down-turn features with these very sad droopy-looking brown eyes that almost made me pat him. _'Such a child...'_ I thought as I smiled at him absent-mindedly, taking a handkerchief out of my satchel to clean his face.

"Stop crying, please?" I said gently, still feeling his body shiver as I held his chin in my hand. "We... will 'save' you, okay? But first, please allow me to clean your face, okay sir?"

When he didn't gave me any response, I gently rubbed off all the tears and tear stains on his face. I offered the handkerchief to him to clean his nose, which he didn't accept as he shook his head in refusal.

"You sure? I do have many other, so you can keep it for the while until I can clean it...?" He shook his head again, making me a little bit confused.

_'I really hope all this doesn't affect their dynamics too much...'_

* * *

"How are you?" Tanjiro asked kindly as we started walking through the fields again.

"Yeah..." Zenitsu replied, calmer than he was before, "Now that I'm calmer, I'm getting hungry."

"Don't you have any food on you?"

"Nope..."

"Here, take this." Tanjiro kindly offered the onigiri he was carrying in his haori, "Would you like to eat it?"

Zenitsu accepted the onigiri, thanking Tanjiro as he took a bite out of the onigiri.

"Why are you not eating, Tanjiro?" I asked skeptically, "Don't tell me that was all you had..."

Tanjiro gave me a sheepish smile as Zenitsu looked at him guiltily.

I shook my head at him, rummaging through my satchel as we walked down the road, "You could have asked me... I do have something eat. And Zenitsu, no need to divide that onigiri in half, I have some more packed with me, okay?" I said as I noticed Zenitsu about to do so.

I gently got the small bento out of my satchel and handed it to Tanjiro, who was on my right. As I packed my satchel back, I heard Zenitsu gasp.

"Miyasha-san?!" He suddenly yelled excitedly, "Did you made these yourself?"

"I did...?" I answered unsurely, as I watched him turn to me with sparkling eyes.

"They look amazing!" Tanjiro commented with Zenitsu vigorously nodding in the background, "Are these... Salmon onigiri?"

"The one in your hand is." I replied to Tanjiro as I took out my bamboo bottle to drink some water, "And the one in your hand is Sujiko, Zenitsu. The three small onigiri in the middle of bento are the Kombu ones. Forgive me for their small size though— I made them with the leftover rice from the other onigiri."

"These are really good, Miyasha-san! Thank you for these!" Tanjiro praised as he took a bite, smiling brightly as chewed through the food.

"You are welcome!"

"Thank you for these, Miyasha-san." Zenitsu thanked quietly, "Um, why are you not eating? Here, take one—"

"Ah, it's okay!" I quickly replied back as Zenitsu tried to hand me an onigiri, "I actually ate a few before we started, so don't worry about me. You both finish it up and we'll buy some food while we are on the road, okay?"

"You sure?" Tanjiro asked one last time, thanking me again when I repeated that I was good.

It was a comfortable silence between us as we walked, enabling me to dwell on my thoughts about the future.

There wasn't much I actually remembered about this part— the only thing I could recollect from my memory about this was that we would go to one of the ex-lower demon moon's mansion to save the elder brother of the two siblings, who was a marechi, if my memory served right. In the end, I was not sure what I could do in all this.

_'Go with them in the mansion?'_ I mused, though not really considering it. _'I'm getting too involved in the plot already and that's... Not actually good. Not to mention my wrist hasn't healed much yet— using my fans would be really difficult if I somehow get it even more... injured.'_

I sighed, feeling tired about the whole situation.

"Chu!" Suddenly something landed on my head, making me look up. Zenitsu's sparrow looked back at me with the same fascination as I did at him, moving slightly onto my forehead as I moved my head upwards to look at him.

"Hey there little guy," I greeted the little bird, offering my palm to him as he eagerly jumped onto it, "Chu, chu, chi!"

I gently patted his head with my left pinky finger, avoiding my forefinger since I still had a cut on it.

The little sparrow leaned onto my touch, chirping loudly as if thanking me. I smiled at his sweet behaviour, absent-mindedly listening to Tanjiro as he began lecturing Zenitsu.

"I know what you mean when you say you're scared of demons, but you can't make trouble for your sparrow."

"Eh? Was it distressed? The sparrow?" Zenitsu asked quizzically, genuinely confused over the whole thing. "How can you tell?"

"Well, he says that you're always whining about not wanting to go to work, and you're always hitting on girls and that you snore so loud, he's had it!" Tanjiro said innocently as he pointed at the sparrow sitting on my palm, "So he says."

"Chu!" I almost smiled at the way the bird agreed with him.

_'This world is crazy... and Tanjiro is even crazier— though, I shouldn't be one to talk either.'_

"He's saying that?" Zenitsu asked in disbelief, looking at the little bird in my hand intently, "You can understand bird language?"

Upon Tanjiro nodding, Zenitsu scowled even more. "You're lying, right? You're just trying to trick me!"

"In a world full of demons," I commented, making both the boys look at me, "You are questioning the ability to understand birds?"

As if agreeing with me, Tanjiro's crow came up circling in the air. "Start running! Start running!" It yelled, making the blond's eyes widen, "Tanjiro, Zenitsu, run! Both of you head over to your next destination!"

Zenitsu sprawled onto the ground, rolling in hysteria as he tried to process the whole situation. "That crow is talking!"

"Come on, calm down!" Tanjiro requested, trying to calm the blond boy and move forward.

I just stood there and shook my head again— why the hell did I accept Tanjiro's request, again?

* * *

_**Kind of a filler chapter— I know, but I really wanted to give Miyasha a break before jumping into the craziness of the plot again, not to mention that I'm not going to rush the whole relationship building just because.**_

_**I am planning some good relationship building conversations between Miyasha and almost all the characters, and will try my best to explain all that in a way that you guys can get an idea what kind of girl she is and what kind of relationship she is building with everyone.**_

**_Now, onto the review replies! _**

**Einklley****: **_**I... I'm honestly speechless. Your reply honestly made me so happy and proud to actually start working on this fanfic... You have no idea how much your words mean to me, dear. Thank you so much for all the support you have been showing me for all these months. Thank you so much. I promise that I'll get to the editing part once I get to a certain arc, and I'll even erase that grammatical error issue. Thank you so much for being there for me...!**_

**2004em:**_** Aww! Your reviews really made me squeal and smile so much! xD Especially since I remember doing that myself, and hearing that someone liked this story enough to get this excited just makes me cry tears of joy! I really hope you like this chapter and yes, you are right, Miyasha is the type to reject Tanjiro on his offer but then again, she just can't get over how young he actually is. it may not seem clear in this chapter, but I'm planning on highlighting it in the next! So do stay tuned ;)**_

**Guest****:_ (I really hope you are the same one reviewing for the past few chapters) I'm really glad that you felt it as natural! I was kinda afraid that it won't, but I'm glad it did! Thank you so much for reviewing!_**

**_Thank you so much for your reviews guys... Your kind reviews just make my day! You all are too sweet and I don't have enough words to appreciate you all._**

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	25. Chapter 23

The Sun slowly went up as we followed the crow's direction, illuminating the otherwise dark forest area near the mountains.

The symphony of the birds chirping relaxed the demon slayers quite a bit too, letting some idle chat take place as we moved towards our destination.

"Are you feeling alright, Miyasha-san?" Zenitsu kindly asked me as he hesitantly peeked at my face.

To be honest, I wasn't.  
My head was aching due to my lack of sleep for last two days, the pain in my joints had somehow increased as well, not to mention that I was feeling very sleepy as the warm sunlight touched my skin.

But then again, they were no excuse for me to be rude to anyone, so I tried to give him my best smile and replied, "I'm just feeling a bit tired, Zenitsu-san. Nothing more, I assure you."

Tanjiro's eyes widened in realization, "Oh, I'm so sorry to make you travel with me without letting you rest, Miyasha-san..." he said apologetically as I waved him off.

"Don't be— I agreed to travel with you, so it was decision in the end. And my home is quite far away from the city, so I couldn't have rested either way." I softly replied, opening my bamboo bottle to take a sip of water, "And please do stop apologizing, dear. In the end, it was me who said yes, so, it wasn't your fault or anything."

"Ah, yes, Miyasha-san—" Tanjiro suddenly halted, making us turn to him in confusion. Upon seeing him discreetly sniffing, I understood what he was trying to do.

"What happened, Tanjiro?" Zenitsu eyed him unsurely, still not used to our company despite it already been a few hours after our meeting.

"We need to go this way." Tanjiro declared, moving towards an unused road among the forest trees. I followed him without hesitation, while Zenitsu reluctantly moved after us as he saw us leaving.

"A-Are you sure it is the right way...?"

"It is." I smiled back at him, slowing down slightly to let him walk beside me, "Trust me when I say that Tanjiro will never lead anyone astray."

Zenitsu hesitantly nodded, almost stumbling on a tree root before he caught himself.

"You okay? Did you hurt yourself somewhere? Is your—"

"I'm fine!" Zenitsu sheepishly answered, walking cautiously this time as we followed behind Tanjiro, "Thank you for worrying for me, Miyasha-san."

"Well," I started playfully, "You don't need to thank me for something I do almost every minute. It's almost like my job at this point." I smiled mischievously as I heard Zenitsu chuckle.

It was good hearing him chuckle— I really wanted him to be comfortable around us, especially around Tanjiro to be honest.

* * *

"Are we..." Zenitsu started after a few hours, looking unsurely around the thick forest we were in, "...there yet? Or are we lost—"

"We are not lost." I replied, focused on the concentrated demon aura I could feel at some distance away, "We are almost there, you can say."

"R-Really...?" Zenitsu asked unsurely, looking at both of us as none of us replied to him, "Hey, Tanjiro... On second thought, I'm not gonna make it. Even if I go along, I'm gonna be totally useless."

"That's not true, Zenitsu-san." I commented off-handedly as we walked nearer and nearer to the source of the demon auras.

_'There must be more than one demon there...'_ I mused, trying my best to distinguish between the several demon auras, but to no avail. _'I'm still not experienced enough with all this to actually differentiate between the auras of unknown demons..._'

Not to mention that there were so many of them. That spot held at least four demons, and that was three too many, if I was to speak from my experience.

_'After all, Muzan didn't ever let any demon form any group together in fear that they may overthrow him.'_

For such a strong creature, he oddly hated letting go of the power he had.

_'Maybe it's more because of his fear of losing his life, than the actual power itself.'_ I frowned as I reflected on whatever I remembered about Muzan from my previous life, _'After all, he didn't even want to form more demons like him initially, but did so only to make them find that notorious blue spider lily—'_

"There's a house there!" Tanjiro's voice cut off my thought process, making me blink at the old Japanese style mansion we were walking towards.

"This mansion is in such a remote area..." I mumbled to myself, looking around as we made our way out of the forest.

_'Perfect place for a demon to house its territory, though.'_ I thought wryly as I inspected the mansion in front of me. This 'mansion' had old sliding doors— which was slightly opened ajar, closed and barricaded windows along with dirty blue tiles at its roof.

"I can smell blood," Tanjiro started, staring at the mansion just as I was, "But this particular scent..."

"Eh? You smell something?" Zenitsu asked in confusion, his eyes trailing back to Tanjiro for his answer.

"Something I've never smelled before."

_'Is he talking about Marechi blood? Does he even know about it, yet?'_ I frowned at the thought, turning towards Tanjiro to ask about it when I suddenly noticed the siblings hiding behind the bushes to our right.

"I don't know about that, but do you hear that sound?" Zenitsu replied offhandedly as he cupped his right ear, "Also, are you and I gonna work together, after all?"

I silently moved back from my position, attracting both the boy's attention towards me as I slowly made my way to the scared siblings.

Unlike the anime though, they were hiding far behind the bushes near the trees— only their heads and parts of their kimonos were visible from where we stood.

"K-Kids..." Zenitsu mumbled as I passed him by.

The kids retreated more into the bushes as they noticed me approach, making me halt in my step. _'They are too scared for me to approach them... what can I do to calm them without scaring them further...?'_

"Hello there..." I softly spoke, waving my hands gently in greeting as I bent down to their height, "I am Sarota Miyasha. I and my friends are here to help..."

I smiled gently at them, slowly stretching my hands out to show them that I meant no harm. Without a moment's notice, Zenitsu's sparrow flew down from somewhere, landing right on my outstretched hands as it enthusiastically chirped towards the kids.

"Cool, isn't it?" Tanjiro commented, directing a smile towards the siblings as he crouched beside me, "It's a tame sparrow!"

The sparrow jumped on my hand as it flapped its wings, chirping loudly as if proving Tanjiro's earlier statement.

"See?" Tanjiro asked as he gave them a closed-eyes smile, "Isn't he cute?"

"Chu!"

After a few seconds of silence, the children moved out of the bush slightly, looking at us with their brown teary eyes.

"It's okay, dear..." I smiled softly at them, "We are here to help. Please tell us what happened...?"

"Is this your house?" Tanjiro asked as well, making the older brother instantly deny it.

"No. No, it's not." He shook his head vigorously, "This... This is... A-A monster's... house." He sniffed loudly, hugging his little sister tightly as she whimpered, "Our big brother got taken away. When we were walking down the road at night, this monster we'd never seen before showed up. It didn't give us a glance. Just our brother."

"And they went inside that house, right?" Tanjiro asked gently, getting an affirmative nod from the elder sibling.

"Did you two follow them here?" I asked softly, "You two did great."

"We followed the traces of his blood... because he got hurt!" The elder sibling answered as tears streamed down his face.

"It's alright, dear, don't worry." I tried soothing them, slowly inching closer once I realized they didn't retreat away from me this time, "Your brother must be there inside the house. We'll soon retrieve him and then you all can go home together, okay?"

"Yes!" Tanjiro enthusiastically agreed, "We're going to defeat the bad guy and rescue your brother!"

"Really? You really will?" The hopefulness in the young girl's voice almost broke my heart— this pair of siblings were literal children... the elder brother was hardly over eight while the young girl still looked like she wasn't even seven.

"Yes. For sure!" Tanjiro promised, making the siblings cry harder as they hugged each other even tighter.

I gently patted their head, making them look at me with their watery gaze— their eyes were red around the edges as if they were crying for hours and their bodies still quivered as they continued to cry.

"Everything will be alright..." I smiled wistfully at them, "Tanjiro-san here will save your onii-chan, okay? You both were very brave to follow all the way through here. Now let us handle from here, yeah?"

They both looked at me intently, finally nodding after a few seconds as their shivers died down. I gently rubbed off the tears from their faces as they sniffled at my gentle touch.

Suddenly Tanjiro gasped, making me look back at him before a sickening sound of the injured man's body falling echoed through the yard.

I instantly blocked the horrifying view from the children, placing my back towards the body as I focused on the living.

_'I-I... had forgotten about this...' _I closed my eyes as I tried to stabilize my breathing, _'They are children... they-they didn't need to see all this... how cruel is this world to make such innocent souls suffer?'_

"Don't look!" Tanjiro yelled from behind me, instantly moving towards the fallen man as I focused back on the children in front of me.

_'Stop panicking, Miyasha. They need you right now.'_

"Hey, it's okay, we are here... We'll handle all this, alright?" I soothed them as best as I could, slowly moving to hug them as they sniffled back into my warm embrace, "No one will hurt you while we are here, got it? You don't need to be scared."

The young girl whimpered in my arms; her body shivering vigorously as I tightened my arms around them.

_'That man...' _I tightly closed my eyes, _'...would I have been able to save him if we arrived earlier?' _I took in a deep breath, desperately trying to hold back my feeling of guilt, _'Would I have been able to save his life if I just had a little more time?'_

_**No.**_  
I couldn't. And I knew it.  
But that didn't sooth the guilt encasing my mind.

_'If only... I had little more time.' _  
Without a moment's notice, the ground started trembling, making the children hug me tighter. I ran my hands on top of their heads', soothing them as I tried to calm my own thoughts as well.

"Hey... little ones..." I softly whispered, "Was that your..."

"No," the elder brother replied, looking up at me with teary eyes, "I-It's not... Nii-chan's wearing a persimmon-coloured kimono."

"It's okay dear... I bet your bother is inside the mansion somewhere, bravely fighting off the monsters." I patted the young boy, "You siblings are the bravest ones I've ever met. I bet your parents must be so proud of you three."

"Hey," Tanjiro started, before I cut him off and replied, "No. It's not him. Their brother is wearing a persimmon-coloured kimono." I declared as I angled myself to look back at him without hurting my neck, "Go inside as soon as possible. Also take some bandages and medicine from me to treat any injured person you find there."

"Hai, Miyasha-san." Tanjiro replied gingerly, as he got up and jogged towards us. I slowly detached myself from the kids as I removed the satchel from my shoulder and opened it.

"Here," I handed him a roll of fresh bandages, "Take these and here's the medicine—"

"It's alright," Tanjiro interrupted me, pulling out a box of medicine of his own, "I have this medicine from my teacher. It soothes the pain and heals the wounds faster." He handed me the medicine to look at it once as I extended my hand towards him.

_'Turmeric and herbs, huh?' _I deduced as I rubbed a little of it in between my fingers. "Very well. Off you go then." I nodded to him, returning his medicinal box back to him. "Though, do you want me to... come with you?"

Tanjiro shook his head, removing the wooden box from his back, "No, Miyasha-san. You are hurt and haven't rested in a while. You can get more injured if you went with us. Zenitsu will come with me." He proclaimed confidently as he looked back at the blond demon slayer.

Zenitsu looked scared out of his wits— shivering uncontrollably as he shook his head vigorously in disagreement.

"But no one else can help them now, but you and me." Tanjiro frowned as he turned towards Zenitsu disapprovingly.

"Really? Alright, then." Tanjiro's voice dropped when he replied, his demeanour becoming darker than before. Zenitsu jumped at Tanjiro's disappointed face, instantly clinging to his waist as he yelled, "Hey, come on! Why are you making that ogre face at me? Okay, I'll go!"

_'That face... wow.' _I shook my head at their antics, wondering how powerful Tanjiro's influence is to make Zenitsu agree to go on a mission with him.

"I have no intention of forcing you to." Tanjiro muttered darkly, turning towards me as Zenitsu kept yelling that he will go with him.

"Miyasha-san," he looked towards me, softly pushing the wooden box in my direction, "In case of an emergency, I'm leaving this box behind."

"Tanjiro, you don't need to—"

"No, Miyasha-san," he shook his head, looking intently at me and the kids behind me, "You are injured. I don't want you to fight and injure yourself more, or worse. If something happens, you three will be protected with his box."

He smiled at me kindly, patting the box once as he got up. "Please take care of the box too... It's more precious to me than my own life."

"I will."

"Okay, we're going now." Tanjiro answered back soberly, moving towards the mansion with a determined face as Zenitsu followed unsurely.

"Be safe, you two." I yelled out to them, "And Zenitsu, I know you are stronger than you seem! Believe in yourself!"

I watched quietly as they entered the mansion. _'I really hope this all ends well...'_

"O-Onee-chan!" I instantly focused back on the kids, noticing them inching towards me as they pointed at the wooden box Nezuko was in. I gently wrapped my arms around them, looking down at them confused as I asked what happened.

"We heard s-scratching sounds from inside that box!" The elder sibling replied, making me sheepishly look at them.

"Don't worry... It's nothing dangerous, I assure you." I calmly answered them, gently moving them a bit away from the box.

_'Am I... forgetting something?' _I asked myself internally as I took the bento out of my satchel.

"Are you two hungry...?" I asked absentmindedly as I gingerly searched for my bamboo bottle, "Or thirsty? You did say that you followed your nii-chan in the night here..."

_'Where is the bloody bottle— OH, here it is!'_ I instantly grabbed my half-filled bottle, turning towards the siblings who looked surprised at me. "Is everything... alright?" I asked quizzically as both of them turned to stare at the bento in my hands, "I only have a few onigiri left with." I answered apologetically as I opened the box and handed it to them, "But I really want you both to have something in your stomach. It must have been hours since you two have eaten something, right?"

The siblings didn't answer me— they instantly started eating as soon as they saw the onigiri.

"Eat slowly, okay? I also have some water with me, so don't hesitate to ask for some if you need." I smiled wistfully at them as I noticed them nodding merrily at me as they happily ate.

_'If only I could do something more for them...'_

* * *

_**Ookay, here's the next chapter!**_

_**I'm so, so, so bloody sorry for its lateness! I had a research paper submission due this Friday and I had done jackshit on it— so I had to give up working on this chapter for a while and focus on the paper or else I would have gotten a big 0 on internship course.**_

_**Anyway! This chapter has mostly been like other filler chapters— Miyasha 'missed' on the action because, frankly, her place is somewhere else.**_

_**As I've made it clear before (or will do it more in future chapters), that she is mostly about 'protecting' rather than 'killing', and that is why she mostly is staying behind (that and her still healing injuries).**_

_**Don't worry, she'll be badass too, but that will be a little bit more into future chapters. Also, who said that doctors can't be badass too? ;)**_

_**Now, it's time to answer some reviews!  
**_

**Einklley****: _True! She can be a bit awkward with Zenitsu at some points_**_**— the only reason she can handle him most of the times is because she had a younger sister in her previous life and she has experience in dealing with children. Though, there will be a lot of times where you'll see her just leave Tanjiro to handle with him :P Well, well, well, red district arc will be one of her turning points, not to mention that her overall character will be so much different by the time that arc comes. So, yeah, she'll be 'joining' them :) And I agree with you the 'calm before the storm part' xD Next arc is gonna be a bit shit storm that Miyasha is sure not gonna be ready for... and neither will be the hashiras :P And about the last part of your review**__**— you all are too generous and kind to me TwT Currently, I don't have any ideas for Rengoku love interest plot, but I'll love to make one. Though, I'll need a complete new OC for that because Miyasha, in no way or form, is romantically compatible to Rengoku. Friendship wise? absolutely. Romantic? nope. And don't worry, I'm keeping my health tip-top! Your reviews make me healthy as well ;)**_

**DemonicCountess: _Aww, thank you so much! thank you so much for giving this fanfic a chance and I'm glad you liked it!_**

**theGuy696:_ Arigato, 696-san UwU_**

**Guest:**_** I'm glad you liked it! And yes, there's gonna be many moments like that xD Tanjiro, after all, has the 'big-brother' syndrome and he definitely ain't gonna try not to protect her! **_

_**And that's all for this chapter! Thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter as well!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	26. Chapter 24

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fu—'_ I facepalmed continuously (but quietly) as the kids had finally fell asleep beside me with the cool shade of the tree on us.

_'They were supposed to be there in the mansion... with Tanjiro and Zenitsu. How the hell did I forget that?!'_ I sighed, shaking my head vigorously as I pinched the bridge of my nose, _'How much have I altered the plot by now...?'_ I thought in despair as I buried my face in both my palms.

My presence alone was altering many of the things in the plot and I absolutely had no idea or means to calculate how much damage I had already done.

_'Not to mention,'_ I thought bitterly, _'My whole being in this world is like some kind of flashing beacon that keeps on attracting trouble...'_

Suddenly Teruko turned in her sleep, making my attention snap back to her. I smiled tiredly at sleeping figure her, wondering that even if I had the option, would I had let them go in?

_'Of course not.'_ I answered myself instantly, almost wanting to smack myself for my stupid thought process, _'No matter what I say, just letting them go in for the sake of plot is not only cruel but borderline inhumane.'_

I sighed loudly as I leaned on the bark of the tree and closed my eyes. The Sun had already went up our head, and was now slowly descending its way down. In a few more hours, it will bid us farewell while leaving only a few rays to paint the evening sky.

I opened my eyes again to look down at the sleeping figures beside me— feeling slightly jealous as they slept their worries away.

_'I wish I could do that too...'_ I thought wryly as I gently caressed their heads as they softly snored.

The sudden sound of slamming woods caught my attention, making me immediately turn towards the source of it when my eyes caught Zenitsu's figure being flung out of the second-storey window.

My heart almost stopped beating when I saw his un-moving body fall down harshly on the ground in front of the mansion.

_'Z-Ze-Zenitsu?!'_

I instantly scrambled to my feet and I rushed towards Zenitsu's fallen body.

"Zenitsu? Zenitsu!" I called out his name again and again as I finally reached him, instantly kneeling beside his figure as I reached to check his pulse.

_'Please be alive, please be alive, please be—' _I let out a trembling relieved sigh, my hands slightly shivering from the shock, _'Oh my God, he's alive. Thank God, he's alive— but how...? Why...? He was not supposed to fall out like this, was he? Was there any part like this?'_ I questioned myself, trying my hardest to remember but, for the love of God, I couldn't.

And I absolutely fucking hated myself for that.

_'Okay, okay. Calm the fuck down, Miyasha. This is not the time for self-blaming.'_ I took in a deep breath, focusing all my attention on the current predicament, _'I need to check him for wounds— falling from that height must have injured him, especially on his head as it had made contact with the ground first._'

I lifted his head cautiously, rubbing the back of it slightly as I felt his blood coat my fingers. _'At least the wound is not that deep...'_ I thought as I slowly kept his head back on the ground, _'It isn't bleeding as rapidly as it should... but he most likely has broken the skin and got a—'_

"O-Onee-chan...?" My attention was snapped back at the children, who were awake now most likely due to the commotion I had unintentionally made.

"Is he... alive?" Shoichi asked, his voice trembling as he clutched his scared sister's hand.

"He is." I simply relayed, smiling softly to ease their worries, "He is just... unconscious for now. Someone most likely flung him out of the window... But he is fine, don't worry."

Shoichi nodded, his posture relaxing quite a bit after the news.

"Shoichi-kun," I called him, "Can you please help me carry Zenitsu-san towards the tree there...? I want to treat him as soon as I can so that he does not loses anymore blood than he already has..."

"Hai, onee-chan."

"Thank you, dear. And Teruko-chan, can you please help me dress his wound? I'll need some assistance to clean the area around the wound and bandage it properly."

"Hai, onee-chan!" The little girl smiled looking rather interested at the aspect of helping me, for some odd reason.

* * *

It had almost been half an hour since we treated Zenitsu— wrapping his head tightly in fresh bandages after somewhat cleaning his hair and scalp from all the blood it had collected, thus, resulting in all my leftover water being used.

_'Hopefully we can get out of here before sunset; I need to replenish almost all of my supplies after this.' _I mused, making a mental list of the things I needed before I started on my next journey.

"Onee-chan, Onee-chan!" Teruko called out, grabbing my attention as she pointed towards the slowing waking Zenitsu, "I think he is waking up...!"

"Mmhm," I nodded, patting her as I smiled down at the younger sibling, "You did a really good job at helping me treat him! That is why he waking up so fast." I grinned down at her as I noticed her blush slightly.

"Zenitsu-san? Zenitsu-san...?" I called him softly, gently shaking face to finally wake him up, "Zenitsu-san...! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

He gradually opened his eyes, slowly blinking his brown irises at me as he came back to his senses. I smiled down at him, cautiously helping him sit upright against the bark of the tree.

"How are you feeling, Zenitsu-san?" I gently asked him, as he blinked at me in confusion.

"What..." he looked around himself, rubbing the back of his head gently as he asked, "What happened?"

"You fell out of a second-storey window..." Shoichi answered, looking at the older male with visible worry in his eyes.

"Oh... Did I?" He blinked again, finally noticing the bandages wrapped around his head, "Wait... am I—?!"

"Don't worry!" I instantly exclaimed, not wanting to handle a hysterical Zenitsu right now, "You didn't sustain any critical wounds! Only a minor head injury that I and Teruko have treated. So, no need to worry, okay?"

Zenitsu finally nodded, flinching when he felt an ache in his head while doing so. "Is it aching...?"

"A little..." Zenitsu replied, "My head is spinning more though..."

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear that, dear. Unfortunately, I do not have medicine for that ye—" I halted mid-sentence as a loud laugh echoed near us.

"What's this? What's this? What's this?!" Zenitsu exclaimed again and again, looking towards the Mansion's entrance just as I was.

I felt a very... wild and untamed aura approach us rapidly, making the hair on my neck stand. I instinctively placed myself between the approaching thing and the three humans with me.

_'It... doesn't feels like a demon's aura...' _I frowned as I assessed again, when suddenly the sliding doors were slammed down, by a male with a strange brown mask—

Zenitsu screamed behind me, hugging Shoichi as he yelled, "There it is again! The monster boar?!"

_'Monster... boar? Wait, Inosuke—?!'_

My eyes widened as I finally recognized the male in front of me— Inosuke cackled gruffly as he looked at all of us, "I'm getting a demonic vibe." He said to himself, trying to find the source of the demonic aura he felt.

"It's him!" Zenitsu exclaimed, proving again that he had a very good memory, "He's the fifth survivor from the final selection! I can tell this from his voice! He was the first one to rush up the mountain, and then came down from the mountain before anyone else! !"

The strangely big eyes of his boar mask finally turned to Nezuko's box, chuckling as he said to himself, "Huh, found it!" He immediately gave a war cry, charging towards the box in his full speed.

"Cut it out!" Zenitsu yelled, placing himself in front of the box without moment's hesitation. Inosuke stopped himself just before Zenitsu's kneeled self, looking down at him in annoyance.

"Who the hell are you?" Inosuke rudely inquired, "Get out of the way!"

"I'm Agatsuma Zenitsu! I'm with the Demon Slayer Corps like you!"

_'What should I do?!'_ I ruminated, feeling conflicted about the whole situation, _'If I don't do anything right now, then Inosuke will beat Zenitsu without any mercy... but if I do decide to do anything right now, it may alter the plot drastically as this is one of the main events that affected their team dynamics—'_

Not to mention the kids hiding behind my back made me feel even more conflicted to intervene...

My heart thundered loudly when Inosuke brought down one of his swords on Zenitsu, almost making me yell before I noticed him stopping just before its contact on his shoulder.

"Why, you..." Even I could feel his glare through his mask, and yet Zenitsu still bravely looked up at him and declared, "Inside this box... Inside this box is something I'm not letting you touch! Something precious to Tanjiro!"

A wry smile made its way to my face, finally reminding me why I didn't dislike Zenitsu unlike many other fans of Kimetsu no yaiba.

_'Even when he claims himself to be a coward... he still stands in front of that box just to protect what is precious to another.'_

"I... I'm going to ask Tanjiro directly myself!" Zenitsu yelled, his voice strengthened with a strange determination, "So, you... You can just back off!"

I almost smiled at his declaration, before Inosuke kicked Zenitsu in the face. I watched helplessly as both the males grappled each other; Zenitsu dragging down Inosuke even when he kept on injuring him again and again.

There were many moments when I just wanted to intervene— I could stop this fight within the five minutes, and that I was confident of, but in the end, this way not my place to interrupt.

_'And that is way more difficult to accept than the fact that all this was nothing but a fictional story for me a lifetime ago.'_

"That's something..." Zenitsu started, throwing Inosuke off the ground, after which he proceeded to shield the box with his body by hugging it tightly, "...precious to Tanjiro! You're not touching it until he gets back!"

The kids flinched, clutching the back of my haori even tighter as Inosuke started assaulting the blond demon slayer brutally as he gave no resistance. I closed my eyes, unable to look the scene any longer.

Even if this all was 'for the best', I couldn't... I couldn't watch it any more. Zenitsu didn't deserve this— hell, he wasn't even making a single sound of pain as the boarman's foot connected with his body.

"Tanjiro..." Zenitsu suddenly started speaking, instantly making me open my eyes, "I protected it. Because you said... this was more important to you... than your life." My breath hitched at his weak voice; my heart breaking at Zenitsu's swollen face.

Tanjiro stood frozen as he noticed Zenitsu's injured state, his eyes clouding over in a very strange way. Immediately, he placed the boy he had been carrying at his back down in-front of the porch, charging at full speed towards Inosuke who was still beating Zenitsu mercilessly.

"Nii-chan...!" I looked back at Teruko, who was looking at her eldest brother, sitting in-front of the porch, with watery eyes.

"Teruko-chan...?" I called her softly, smiling at her as she fixed her watery gaze at me, "Let's patch up your nii-chan, eh?" She nodded instantly, making my smile widen.

"But... they are fighting there—" I cut Shoichi off, slightly pushing him towards his elder brother's direction as I said, "They are quite far away. And I assure you, they won't hurt you or your brother." I smiled reassuringly at him, "If they did, I'll be there to protect you. Trust me, okay?"

Upon his hesitant nod, I gently prodded him towards his brother. As he got moving, I turned towards the young girl standing beside me, "Teruko-chan," I started, "Can you please bring my satchel here and take out a handkerchief from it? Also, there will be a small brown glass bottle, please bring that out with the cloth." Upon her determined nod, I focused on moving both the wooden box and Zenitsu out of the harm's way.

"Zenitsu-san, let's move you out of the way of their fighting area, okay?" I focused myself on cautiously carrying the box on my back as I helped Zenitsu walk out of the current war zone after he gave me a discreet nod.

"Actually, isn't Tanjiro running afoul of the taboo himself?" Zenitsu asked me as I adjusted him under a tree on the side-lines, "He did break his bones."

I avoided commenting on that, instead focusing on rubbing the blood off of his nose after placing the wooden box nearby. The siblings were hugging each other in the background, crying in relief and happiness, which I really didn't wanted to interrupt. Zenitsu, meanwhile, was fully focused on the fight going between the two demon slayers.

"...**CALM DOWN!**" Tanjiro screamed, head-butting Inosuke while Zenitsu yelled in surprised.

"That sound!" Zenitsu screeched, moving his face away from me as he clutched his forehead, "Are their skulls fractured?!"

"Concussion, maybe... But not a fracture." I offhandedly commented as I readjusted my position to finally look at the two boys fighting. Inosuke had just stumbled back on his feet, showing the effects of the blow he had just taken.

After wobbling a few times to maintain his basic balance, his mask slipped off of his head, showing off his face to the world.

"Huh? A girl?!" Zenitsu screeched, his eyes widening comically, "Your face...?!"

_'He's...' _I stumbled upon my thoughts, my mind still processing what I was seeing, _'...rather pretty for a guy. Can't say if I'm jealous or not, yet.'_

The first thing I noticed was how he had thick, black hair whose tips had faded into a dark bluish hue just past his shoulders— it's uneven and unruly fringe just above his eyes brought even more attention to his large, beautifully wide green eyes. His long eyelashes and thin eyebrows, along with his small, well-mannered mouth could easily give anyone the illusion that he was a very pretty female... if it were not for his a-little-bit-too well-defined muscular build and gruff voice.

"What the hell?" Inosuke muttered, fixing his green eyes on us, "You've got a problem with my face or something?" He finished out loud with a strange grin, making Zenitsu reply back to him with a certain amount of disdain in his voice, "You're one creepy guy, you know that? You've got such a ripped body, but there's a girl's face sitting on top of it."

"Oi," I interjected, glowering back at Zenitsu for his previous statement, "It's not his fault that he has such a beautiful face. And nothing's wrong with it either." I scolded him back, though it very well went ignored when Inosuke started speaking again.

"Why the hell are you staring at my face like that?" He growled at us, making Zenitsu hide behind me in fear.

"I-I'm not!" Zenitsu exclaimed, clutching my shoulders as he hid behind my kneeled self, "I'm not looking at your face!"

I shook my head at his antics, but couldn't stop my lips from twitching as I desperately tried to keep a smile down when Tanjiro bluntly (and unintentionally?) complimented Inosuke. And, as expected, Inosuke replied with a threat while Tanjiro instantly shot it down.

While two went back and forward, I made Zenitsu sit down beside me and finished wiping off the blood from his face.

"Hey, Big forehead! Let me tell you my name... It's Hashibira Inosuke! Don't you forget it!"

I smiled wistfully at his introduction as I applied a thin layer of medicine over the cuts and bruises on Zenitsu's face. His name was such an integral part of him, and maybe the only part that he actually knew about himself right now.

"What characters do you use to spell that?!" Tanjiro exclaimed, making me wonder why is he even asking that for.

"Spell?! Spell... I don't know how to read or write! That name is written on my loincloth—" Upon Inosuke suddenly stopping in between the conversation, Zenitsu turned to look at them, moving his face away _again _as I tried to treat it properly.

"W-What's wrong...? Why did he freeze?" Zenitsu asked to no one when suddenly Inosuke's eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

"He collapsed!" Zenitsu yelled, clutching my shoulders again as he hid behind me, "Is he dead?"

"No, he isn't." I answered back, looking over to the bleeding young man lying there, "He most likely has a concussion and several broken ribs, but other than that, he's fine, I think."

"It's because I head-butted the hell out of him..." Tanjiro added, thinking about something intensely until Teruko approached him and asked if he's alright.

Upon Tanjiro's nod, Teruko excitedly asked to touch his forehead which he allowed as he bowed down to let her.

"Onii-chan, your head is so hard!"

"You think so?"

I shook my head at this strange situation, almost pinching the bridge of my nose as my headache came back with a vengeance.

"Enough with all this." I declared loudly, glowering at Zenitsu who kept on moving away again and again as I tried to treat his wounds, "All three of you have injured yourselves so much! Now quiet down and sit still for _**five minutes **_so that I can at least apply a basic treatment for you all! Especially you Zenitsu-san!"

"H-Hai!" Zenitsu stiffened, closing his eyes as he sat in front of my with a straight back.

"And Tanjiro-san, sit down beside Zenitsu-san so that I can look at your nose and ribs, _**now**_."

"H-Hai, Miyasha-san!"

"Teruko-chan, Shoichi-kun, will you please help me with dressing their wounds? Especially of your brother's?"

"Hai, onee-chan!"

"Good. Now, if anyone of you two boys even slightly moved, then I'm gonna wrap your whole mouth shut with these bandages—"

* * *

_**Heya! Here's the next chapter of the Drum House arc! **_

_**We are almost over with this arc— just one more chapter and bam! We move on to the mountain arc and meet the Hashiras (after some fighting, of course xD)**_

_**But damn, I'm getting excited! **_  
_**Not to mention so many things happened with me this last few days—remember the research appear I said I was working on? It got selected for publication! This fanfic, on top of it, reached 19k reads on wattpad just today and here, I got over 100+ story follows and 100+ story favourites! Not to mention I reached 1k followers on wattpad too— and all this just makes me want to cry in happiness TwT**_

_**I've never felt as accomplished as I did these past few days and so much of it is all thanks to you guys… Thank you so much for not giving up on me and this story and your beautiful reviews just make my day.**_

_**So let me quickly reply to your comments and wrap this chapter up!**_

**Einklley: _Indeed! Miyasha does have more stamina than Tanjiro, but not strength_— **_**her body has many 'issues' with it, which I will highlight as the story progresses. These 'issues' make her hold back, even with all her experience and potential! So yes, you are not wrong with your deduction, but there's more to it! Hopefully I can explain them well in the future :')**_

**Guest: _Thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter as well!_**

_**And that's all for this chapter! Thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter as well!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	27. Chapter 25

_'I've always had really good hearing... One time, I knew what people said while I was asleep, and that creeped everyone out.'_

"You okay, Zenitsu-san?" A hand on his shoulder broke him away from his musings, making him look up to find concerned violet eyes staring back into his brown ones.

"Ah, I'm fine, Miyasha-san!" He gave his best smile, watching as she looked over him once again before shifting back to the eldest brother's injuries.

"If you feel pain in your head or if you need anything, please do not hesitate to tell me, alright?" She softly conveyed, her words directed at him. And her words honestly made him want to cry.

_'Her heartbeat is so... serene and caring.'_

For all his life, Zenitsu had always believed in whomever he wanted to believe in, despite the sounds he heard from them. But Miyasha...

_'Her sound is so warm and caring... I don't think I've ever heard anything like it before.' _And if he was being honest, then Tanjiro's heartbeats weren't like anything he had ever heard before either.

But where Tanjiro's was gentle and kind, Miyasha's were warm and caring— just like a big brother and an elder sister.

"Here!" Miyasha declared, giving Kiyoshi a bright close-eyed smile as she continued, "Your wound is now all covered up and bandaged! Now, I'll give you a portion of the medicines I applied on your leg so you can apply it once you go home, okay?" Upon Kiyoshi nodding, she proceeded to hand him a small wooden box and patted him, "Apply it at least once after every time you take a bath, okay? Also avoid applying cold water to the wound for at least the initial week— if it, by any chance, gets infected, just apply this medicine with some neem water, okay?"

"Hai, Miyasha-san!" Kiyoshi replied diligently, "Thank you so much for help, onee-chan!"

"You're welcome, dear." She patted him again, making Zenitsu feel a bit... left out, for some reason.

_'Can I... get pats like that too?' _He shook his head at his ridiculous thought, wondering where that came from.

"Is your head fine, Zenitsu-san?" Miyasha asked again upon noticing him shaking his head vigorously, "Look, if it pains or if your feel queasy, please do not hesitate to tell me, okay dear? Never think that you're bothering me or something, got it? This is literally my work, and if you hide them from me then I won't be able to help you, dear..."

Her eyes shone with genuine worry, making him feel warmer inside. Honestly, her caring for him just made him want start to crying again.

"I-I'm fine, Miyasha-san... I'll tell you if I feel any pain, trust me." He replied shyly, watching as her worry slowly decreased as she smiled at him softly.

"Miyasha-san, Miyasha-san!" Tanjiro suddenly called her, making both of them look towards the younger male in front of them, who was carrying several rocks with him, "Miyasha-san! We are going to burying the bodies... Will you help us bury them?"

"Help 'us'?" She asked suddenly, making Tanjiro pause at her question, "Who is the '_us_' you are talking about, Tanjiro-san...?"

"Um, me, Shoichi-"

"No." Miyasha instantly interrupted Tanjiro, "I will help you completely only at one condition— none of the children will help us bury the body. I know it'll take less time if everyone helps but... they do not deserve to do all this at such a young age. And I promise I'll work fast enough so that all the burials are finished before the sunset."

_'She's so kind...'_

Tanjiro blinked at her sudden demand, processing it for a few minutes before agreeing, "I... understand, Miyasha-san. I'll then tell them to sit beside Inosuke and—"

"No!" Zenitsu interrupted Tanjiro this time, "Don't make them sit beside that wild, insane boar! He'll attack them instantly if he woke up!"

"Don't be so harsh, Zenitsu-san..." Miyasha shook her head, sighing as she continued, "But... I partially agree with Zenitsu-san, here. Inosuke may not feel comfortable with other people so near him when he is not conscious."

She tilted her head to look behind Tanjiro— Shoichi and Teruko were carrying small stones with them for the burial of the bodies.

"Instead," Miyasha started again, once the children were near enough to hear her, "Why don't Teruko-chan and Shoichi-kun help Kiyoshi-kun to pack my satchel? I did make a mess as I treated you all..." she turned to the kids, smiling at them softly as she asked them for their opinion, "Would you like to do that please? It'll help me a lot if you two do..."

"Ah, hai, Miyasha-san." Both the children agreed, instantly depositing the stones near the hole they had dug and proceeded to walk towards where Miyasha's satchel was kept, near their elder brother.

"You help out too, Zenitsu." Tanjiro suggested, to which he instantly agreed.

Why wouldn't he? Anything would be better than sitting beside that wild boar and he really did want to help these two.

* * *

A sudden scream interrupted the peaceful atmosphere, making Miyasha and Tanjiro look up to the approaching source of noise.

Zenitsu was scream-yelling as he ran towards them with a rock in his hands as Inosuke follows him while screaming to fight him.

Zenitsu instantly hid behind Miyasha as he reached them, as she and Tanjiro stared blankly at Inosuke, who was staring back them just as blankly, if not more.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Inosuke asked somewhat accusingly, pointing his finger at them as he scowled.

"It's a burial." Tanjiro answered back simply.

"Hah?"

"You help out, too, Inosuke." Tanjiro repeated what he had said to Zenitsu earlier, as he placed the rock in his hand on top of the grave, "There are still some people who were killed inside that house who need a proper burial."

"What's the point of burying the corpses of those creatures?" Inosuke asked aggressively, "I'm not doing that! I'm not helping out! Forget that! Fight me!"

_'Man, he really is a loon.' _Zenitsu wondered, still hiding behind Miyasha, _'What does he mean, what's the point?'_

"I see." Tanjiro said, "You can't do it because your wounds are hurting you."

"Hah...?" Even Inosuke was surprised by his statement, his eyes twitching in anger as Tanjiro continued speaking as if he completely understood what he meant.

_'Those two are beyond help! They're both crazy...' _Zenitsu thought in despair as Tanjiro kept on rambling how Inosuke should get some rest.

Miyasha simply shook her head and started working on the next burial instead of simply standing there and wasting her time. Noticing her start working again, Zenitsu began helping her as well, ignoring the now screaming and fuming Inosuke.

_'Ignoring them might be the best, for now.' _Zenitsu thought absent-mindedly as he followed Miyasha inside the house to bring out another body.

* * *

It was almost sunset by the time they were done burying all the bodies of the victims.

_'Miyasha-san really did keep her word...' _Zenitsu pondered as he discreetly watched the said female join her hands before the last grave, praying silently.

For such a small and frail looking female, she had a lot of strength— even more than him or Tanjiro at some instances. Because of that and her single-mindedness, they got the work done pretty quickly and more efficiently.

Zenitsu slowly took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, praying for the dead just as the other people around him were doing.

"What is that person doing?" The young girl asked from behind them, making her brothers simply reply to not look there, especially when Inosuke gave out another war cry and slammed his head against a tree.

It was the voice of Tanjiro's crow though, that got his and Tanjiro's attention.

"Descend the mountain! Descend the mountain!" It repeated again and again as it approached them, flying down the orange sky.

"That crow is talking!" Shoichi exclaimed, to which his brother replied, "Just don't think anymore."

Zenitsu heard Miyasha give out a small laugh as she got up— everyone following her lead as the crow kept asking them to follow it again and again while flying above them in circles.

"Kiyoshi-kun, Shoichi-kun, Teruko-chan?" Miyasha called their names individually, making them stop and look at her innocently, "Walk ahead of me. And please tell us which way your home is; if needed, I'll walk you there—"

"Hey! Where are you going?" The wild boar asked them as he noticed them leaving.

"We're descending down the mountain." Tanjiro replied simply.

"We're not done with our battle yet!"

"You're tired, aren't you? Come on, we're heading down."

"Hah?! I'm not tired!" He suddenly rushed towards them, intending to slam onto Tanjiro as he yelled, "Let's fight!"

Miyasha immediately pulled Tanjiro behind her by his haori, stepping in front of him without a moment's notice as Inosuke came hurtling towards them. Inosuke stopped just an inch or two away from ramming into her, glaring at her as she calmly stood there.

"Oi, what the hell are you doing, woman?!"

"Watch your tone, Hashibira." Miyasha ordered sternly, making everyone stiffen at her harsh tone, "If you want a fight, you'll get your fight— only when we are down the mountain, you understand that?" She glared up at him, her violet eyes gleaming in the last rays of the sunset.

Zenitsu shivered at her tone, being reminded of exactly why she scared him in the first place— because even with her soft smiles and caring sounds, her heart had a fierce beat to it which was not only due to her protectiveness.

Strangely enough, Inosuke complied— silently moving back to let them through. Miyasha took that as her sign and gently prodded them towards the road.

"Come on, we need to go." She gently insisted, her tone back to her normal soft one, "I would rather prefer we reach our respective destinations before the night falls..."

* * *

"You sure you three can go by yourself...?" Miyasha asked once again, genuine worry reflecting in her violet eyes.

"Hai, Onee-chan." Kiyoshi replied smiling gratefully at her, "Thank you for treating me and taking care of my siblings—"

"Hold out your hand!" Suddenly Tanjiro's crow came down, flying in front of Kiyoshi.

He reluctantly did as the crow asked— holding out his palms as suddenly the crow spat out a small violet bag into his hands.

Kiyoshi's face turned green at the bag, but after the crow relayed that the bag will ward off any demons, he looked at the bag intently.

"You with marechi blood, keep that on your person!" The crow declared, finally settling back on his owner's shoulders.

"Hm, it smells like wisteria." Tanjiro remarked.

"Wisteria...?"

"It is a flower that demons cannot abide." Miyasha answered, staring at the small bag in his hands, "Always keep it on your body when you go out— especially at night, and it will repel any demons planning to attack you."

"Demon repellent!" The crow declared, flailing around his wings as it repeated the two terms again and again.

"Ah... arigato, crow-san..."

"We should take our leave now then." Kiyoshi commented, bowing (which his siblings did as well, following his example) as he thanked them, "We're truly grateful! Thank you for everything. We can get home on our own, now."

"Take care, then!" Tanjiro replied, waving his hand and Miyasha patted them and smiled as she bid them farewell.

"Take care and be safe!" Zenitsu waved as well, as he heard Inosuke slamming his head against the trees in the background.

"Now then, follow me!" Tanjiro's crow took off again, "Follow yours truly!"

"Ah, this path takes us back to the town, right?" Zenitsu asked as he remembered the pathway vaguely.

"It indeed does." Miyasha answered, looking up at the fading orange sky as they walked down the path, "I really I hope we move out of the forest before the night fall; I'll rather like to avoid stepping onto any kind of snake—"

"Fight me!" Inosuke interrupted Miyasha, suddenly showing up beside Tanjiro as he pointed at him aggressively, "We are already down the mountain! So, fight me! I swear I'm gonna find your weak point and bring you down, loser!"

"We are not yet down the mou—" Zenitsu started, but Tanjiro interrupted him by declaring that his name was not 'loser'.

"It's Kamado Tanjiro!" He introduced himself again, which Inosuke butchered up by calling him 'Kamaboko Gonpachiro.'

Zenitsu could hear Miyasha laughing silently as Tanjiro fumed over his butchered up name.

Honestly, he couldn't see the humour in this situation; not to mention his head was aching with all their shouting.

"Can you both talk any louder?!" Zenitsu yelled over the other two males, startling them with his unexpected loudness as he noticed Tanjiro almost stumble in surprise, "Shut up already!"

The only thing that could be heard after that was Miyasha's soft laughter as she kept on shaking her head in amusement for the next ten minutes.

At least the sound of her laughter was more pleasant than the other two screaming at each other.

* * *

"A wisteria family crest..." Tanjiro mumbled as they stood in front of a huge wooden gate with wisteria crest painted on it.

_'This crest...' _Zenitsu frowned, _'Wasn't this crest on the bag of Wisteria the crow spat out?'_

"_Cawrr! _Rest time! Rest time!" Tanjiro's crow started off suddenly, startling everyone standing there, "Since you've sustained injuries, you're to rest until you're fully recovered!"

"Eh? You sure it's okay to rest?" Tanjiro asked his crow as Zenitsu looks at the sparrow on his hand who nodded vigorously, as if to agree with his crow companion, "I just fought a Demon while injured, you know."

"And that is even more of a reason for you three to rest." Miyasha interjected, gently caressing the crows head as it went "Ke-ke-ke."

"Ke-ke-ke...?"

"Let's eat this thing." Inosuke suggested, making the crow stiff in shock.

"He's more useful than that." Miyasha commented, looking down at the crow who now looked very uncomfortable in Tanjiro's grip, "Don't waste his potential by eating him. Not to mention it'll be cruel to the ones who trained him to help us."

"Anyway," Miyasha continued, looking at the wooden gates once more before turning to the three males she was traveling with, "My journey with you ends here. This manor will provide you with all the medication and care—"

"W-Wait, _journey ends here_?!" Zenitsu yelled in shock, his mind still trying to process her words as he stuttered out his next, "B-But weren't you Tanjiro's travelling partner?! How can you leave us alone like thi—"

"I was travelling with you all till you could get the proper medical attention you needed." Miyasha smiled wistfully at Zenitsu, "And since now you can get all that in this manor, you have no need for me. So, I was th—"

"N-No!" Zenitsu yelled, going back into hysteria as he instantly clutched Miyasha's shoulders and kneeled down in front of her in desperation, "I won't have it! I won't have it! I won't have it!"

"You can't go, Miyasha-san!" He yelled again, feeling his heart almost drop as he felt her gently caress his head. It made him cry as he felt the gentleness in her touch— even her heartbeat seemed so conflicted, then why did she want to leave?

"Zenitsu-san—"

"You said you'll save me! You were the one who saved my life when I fell out the window!" Zenitsu whined, honestly not caring if he was too loud this late in the night. He just didn't wanted her to leave— and that's all he knew.

"Miyasha-san," Tanjiro interjected, smiling sadly at the female as he continued, "Please stay with us... at least till we are here? Aren't you injured as well?"

"What?!" Zenitsu instantly stepped back, looking horrified, "Did I hurt you?! I'm sorry for clutching you so tightly!"

"I-It's okay! I'm f-fine, I assure you!" She tried to comfort him, "And Tanjiro, this manor is made for demon slayers, I don't think they'll allow me here—"

Without a moment's notice, the gate opened and an old lady of quite small stature came out, stopping Miyasha in between her sentence.

"Yes...?" She looked over at the four of them, smiling as Tanjiro apologized for bothering her so late in the night.

"It's a monster! A mo—" Miyasha instantly cut Zenitsu off, gently smacking upside his head as she hissed at him to behave.

"Who the hell are you?" Inosuke rudely asked, making the three of them stiffen as he moved towards the old woman.

"I see you're a Demon Hunter." She said in a sweet voice, bowing to them as Inosuke approached her.

"You look pretty weak..." Inosuke pondered out loud, touching her her hair with his forefinger.

"Hey!" Tanjiro yelled while Miyasha bowed deeply and apologized for other's rudeness.

"Come in." The old lady simply said, smiling at them kindly as the three demon slayers started following her.

"I..." Miyasha was hesitant though, her eyes darting towards the old lady who looked at her with a strange knowing look, "I'm not a demon slayer, ma'am... I'm just a doctor—"

"Please allow her to stay with us, oba-san!" Tanjiro loudly spoke up, bowing deeply which Zenitsu did as well, "She's injured just like us! Please let her stay with us!"

The old lady simply smiled, nodding slightly before opening the doors of the gate wide enough for them to come in, "Any person who protects the innocents from demons are welcome here..."

"A-Arigato, oba-san." Miyasha thanked the older woman bashfully, as Tanjiro and Zenitsu beamed at the good news.

* * *

"Here is your meal..." The old lady relayed, bowing slightly as she sat near their prepared meals.

"She has to be a monster, Tanjiro! That old lady's a mon—"

"Please refrain from shouting so loudly at someone else's home, Zenitsu-san..." a female voice stated, making the three of the males to turn back and notice Miyasha standing there, with her long raven hair open from the usual bun she had. "What... happened? Is something on my face?" She asked, bemused at the way the three were suddenly staring at her.

_'She's so... beautiful.' _Zenitsu thought as he blushed slightly. She was wearing a simple yukata with the same stripped design as his but in a pinkish shade with a lighter coloured obi. Her waist-length hair was gathered in a loose side pony, seeming wet at first glance.

"Ah, it's nothing Miyasha-san!" Tanjiro smiled, "It's just, you look very pretty with your hair open like that!"

Her eyes widened at the blunt complement; a laugh escaped suddenly her lips as she entered the room after them.

"You're too kind, Tanjiro-kun." She smiled as she sat beside him, gently tucking her hair to her back to avoid getting any into her hair.

"N-No, Miyasha-san, you really do look v-very beautiful." Zenitsu insisted, feeling very shy for some reason. Maybe because she looked very different with her hair open...?

Miyasha smiled, gently patting him in the head as she turned to give him a close-eyed smile when he looked at her.

Zenitsu's heart warmed at her caring smile, all his shyness disappearing as he realized that she was still the same motherly female as before.

_'She just... looks much younger than she did earlier.' _He absent-mindedly thought as they started eating.

Since it was four of them, they had made a loose circle as they sat and ate; everyone but Inosuke eating quietly.

Inosuke, meanwhile, was making a mess as he stuffed his mouth with several dishes all at once with his hands, instead of using chopsticks like everyone else did.

In fact, he even went as far as stealing food off of Tanjiro's plate, making everyone stare at him in puzzlement before Tanjiro offered him more of his food.

_'These two loons...' _Zenitsu thought in utter disappointment, noticing how Miyasha just proceeded to ignore those two and focused on her food.

_'She ignores their foolishness a lot...' _And now he noticed it, she only intervened something serious was going to happen.

_'Maybe that's the smarter way.' _Zenitsu thought as he took a bite of his food, noticing Inosuke aggressively eating as he stared at Tanjiro, _'He totally forgot about that box!' _Zenitsu could feel his vain popping, his irritation for the boar increasing more and more by each passing minute, _'Gimme a break, you thug! Moron! Eyelashes!'_

* * *

"Goodnight, you three." Miyasha suddenly spoke, making the three turn to him.

"Hah? What do you mean by that?!" Inosuke questioned her rudely, though Miyasha did not look annoyed by it.

"Ah, I'm bidding you farewell for the night, Inosuke-san." She smiled calmly at him as he turned to the other two boys, "My room is just next to your room. If you need three need anything, do not hesitate to just come there, okay?"

"Wait, you're not going to share a room with us? Tanjiro asked innocently as he tilted his head, making Zenitsu want to slam his own head against the wall.

"Of course she isn't?!" Zenitsu yelled, "She's a female, you moron! She cannot share a room with some males!"

"Ara, ara, Zenitsu-kun... no need to be so harsh with him..." she awkwardly tried to calm him down, "Let's just settle into our rooms and— oh, wait, a doctor is supposed to arrive and give us all a proper checking..."

"Eh?" Zenitsu turned to the female, "You aren't going to treat us...?"

"This is someone else's domain, and I'm currently here as a guest... so, I'm a bit reluctant at doing so." Miyasha answered simply, "But, I am thinking to talk about it with the doctor here, and maybe ask their opinion on it."

"Regardless of that, I'll meet you three at the hall, alright?" She waved slightly as she moved passed them, towards her room.

"Hai, Miyasha-san!"

.

.

"Here is the doctor." The old lady declared in her soft, sweet voice.

The doctor bowed along the lady, smiling all the way as he sat and started check the three demon slayers first.

"Hai, severe!" He declared rather cheerfully as he was done checking the three males.

"Severe in what sense, doctor...?" Miyasha frowned, "Do all three of them have broken ribs?"

"Hai." The doctor agreed, "How did you know, young miss?"

Miyasha smiled as she replied amiably, "I have some experience in treating people... not as much as you, but a little bit so."

"Oh! That's wonderful! How many years, miss?"

"Around four years... you can say. Even though my sensei started teaching me at a much younger age, I did not start proper treatment before I met another doctor and assisted him with his own patients."

"Ah, I see. I see." The doctor nodded, "So, do you know what injuries you have?"

"Hai, doctor. Mostly pain in my joints and a somewhat severe pain in my wrist..."

"Let me see, young miss!" The doctor gently took her right hand into his, slowly moving her right wrist, making her flinch in pain. Tanjiro and Zenitsu's eyes widened as they noticed her swollen wrist for the first time.

_'Her baggy haori hid her hands a little too well...'_

"Hai, you got a very severe sprained wrist! I'll apply a bandage around it so that the swelling decreases." The doctor declared, taking out some bandages from the bag he carried with him.

* * *

After Inosuke relayed about his past, a comfortable silence fell in their room.

_'Should I...'_ He turned to look at Tanjiro, who had closed his eyes but hadn't yet fallen asleep.

"Tanjiro, no else is asking this, so, I'm gonna ask this myself." Zenitsu declared soberly, sitting up in his futon, "Why are you travelling with a demon?" He finally got the question off of his chest.

Zenitsu turned to look back at Tanjiro, hoping that he wasn't disappointed at him for asking this, but upon seeing his kind smile as he too sat up, made him feel warm inside again.

"Zenitsu..." Tanjiro started, his eyes turning softer as he spoke, "You knew about that and still protected the box, huh? You're really a great guy, you know that? Thanks!"

Zenitsu blushed as laid down on the futon and wiggled, "You really shouldn't heap so much praise on me!"

"I've got a keen sense of smell." Tanjiro said as he pointed at his nose, "I knew it from the start, how kind you are, Zenitsu... and how strong—"

"No, I'm not strong." Zenitsu deadpanned, feeling as if he was been mocked, "Don't give me that."

Tanjiro stumbled upon his words, not sure how to recover from Zenitsu's earlier statement when suddenly scratching sounds started emitting from the wooden box Tanjiro always carried.

Zenitsu jumped on his feet, moving away in fear at hear that noise. "It's trying to come out! It's trying to come out!"

"Its alright...!" Tanjiro tried to calm him down, but Zenitsu was too scared to see reason.

"How can it be all right? Huh? Huh!?"

"Shh! It's the middle of the night, Zenitsu!"

Suddenly the box opened, making Zenitsu scream in hysteria, "Oh my gosh! It's not even locked?!"

"Shh!"

"P-P-Protect me! Someone please protect me!" Zenitsu yelled, moving away from the box for as far as he could, "Even you'll do Inosuke!"

"Stay away from me!" Inosuke kicked Zenitsu under the chin, resulting him being sprawled across the room near the very box he was trying to run away from.

"It's out!?" Zenitsu screamed, crawling away from the box as the demon slowly got out of it, "I gotta hide! I'm so scared!"

Zenitsu had almost climbed into the closet, before he noticed that the demon was a rather small female, with a big bamboo muzzle in her mouth.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro cheerful greeted the demon, his smile was very evident in his voice.

Zenitsu paused as he noticed the demon grow in height and turn into a rather cute young woman in front of their eyes.

"Hah?" Inosuke looked at Nezuko once, before stretching both his hands on his futon and saying, "That's too much thinking." He then proceeded to sleep, not caring for all this drama much.

But for Zenitsu...

"Tanjiro..." he started soberly, his voice dropping an octave as he continued, "Listen to me."

"Z-Zenitsu...?"

"Just who do you think you are?!" Zenitsu growled, "So, you've been travelling with a girl this cute...? With a girl this cute in tow, day after day, you've been travelling, and you've been on cloud nine the whole time, huh?"

"Zenitsu, it's not like—"

"Give me back all the blood I shed!" Zenitsu yelled, pointing his finger at Tanjiro accusingly, "I didn't give it my all just so you could spend time in la-la land, making out with a girl! That's not why I got pulled and kicked by that wild boar, right?!"

"Zenitsu, calm down! What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Tanjiro friend to calm Zenitsu down, but to no avail.

"**DEMON SLAYER CORPS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU'D JOIN FOR FUN?!" **Zenitsu yelled at full volume, "Guys like you gotta be purged! Immediately—"

Suddenly the door in the room slid open to show a very confused and somewhat annoyed Miyasha glowering at them, "What in the name of Mother Nature is happening here?!" She demanded.

"Tanjiro has been carrying his demon girlfriend in that box!" Zenitsu yelled it out, making Miyasha blink at him blankly.

"Nezuko-chan is not his girlfriend, Zenitsu-kun... She's his sister who turned into a demon. She's travelling with him in that wooden box because he wants to protect her from other slayers and wants to turn her back into the human she once was."

Zenitsu blinked twice at this information, his anger immediately deflating.

"Oh..." Zenitsu finally said, looking awkwardly at the siblings as he fumbled over his words.

Miyasha sighed at this whole ordeal, shaking her head slightly as she started, "Zenitsu-kun, Tanjiro-kun, please go to sleep. It's almost too late for all this ruckus, and I'll rather like to finish my work before the sun rises, so please quietly rest."

"And Nezuko-chan," she turned towards the female demon, "Would you like to rest in my room with me?"

Upon Nezuko turning to look at Tanjiro, he nodded as said, "I'll bring the box to your room then—"

"No need," she waved him off, entering the room to carry that box with her, "You two go to sleep— we'll talk about this tomorrow. In _detail. _For now, just rest."

"And Zenitsu-kun," she turned towards him, patting him on her way out, "Don't overthink things."

The door slid close behind her, leaving the two friends staring awkwardly at each other.

"I'm sorry... Tanjiro..."

What an awkward night it was.

* * *

**(~End of Drum House Arc~)**

* * *

_**Yep! This arc is finally complete~!**_

_**I hope you all liked Zenitsu's POV— it was slightly difficult for me to write this, but if you feel I didn't do him justice, then please write a review and tell me! ****I'm open to criticism and will love to learn more from you all!**_

_**Other than that, the Mountain arc is almost here~ That means we'll be meeting the Hashiras~**_  
_**And that means it's gonna be more difficult for me to write! Yay! xD**_

_**May Lord save my soul, lol.**_

_**Anyway! Let's start with our review replies~**_

**natonatonii****:** _**Your kind comment made me so motivated and happy TwT I'm glad you liked the details I added_—_ it was even worse for Miyasha, cause she hadn't slept for like, 48 hours and cause she sleeps in the day xD so, yeah— that's why it was making her somewhat more tired and 'meh, I Can't care less.'**_

**asclepia:_ I can't wait for that too! And thank you so much! it's all because of you guys I get this kind of motivation!  
_**

**samuelpatricio96: _Okay, sorry but no. I can assure you that won't happen__— it is a little bit too cliche, and not to mention I have something else in store for that plot device as a whole ^^;; I hope you'll stick till then and be surprised! :'V_**

**Einklley:_ ...My sister reads these reviews too and she wants me to say she 100% agrees TwT I promise I'll try working on them_****_— and thank you so much for bringing that to my notice! I just... nah, I ain't gonna make any excuses xD And about the issues part, it'll be an unholy combination of both xD And thank you so much for your well wishes! I absolutely understand your feelings with the co-members part_**_**— that's why I almost always try to not get into a group project cause they are such pain in the ass TwT**_

**Guest****:_ Well, in a way you can say that! And I'm glad you liked her overall attitude with the other characters! ^^_**

**_And that's that! And damn, there were so many reviews! Thank you so much to you all for reviewing and giving me motivation to work! You all are the sweetest T^T_**

**_I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well! _**

**_Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D_**

**_Stay safe and stay healthy!_**


	28. Chapter 26

**_A/N: Before we start, let me tell you a few things; it takes six weeks (minimum) to recover from broken ribs and almost a good month or two to recover from a severely sprained wrist, so yeah, that's why there'll be a time-skip._**

* * *

**(~Natagumo Mountain Arc~)**

* * *

One thing that I absolutely never realized was how much and how many time-skips an anime actually had.  
Honestly, it's almost ridiculous, now that I thought about it.

It had been almost close to a _month _since we arrived at the Wisteria crest manor, and not even once were they called in for their mountain mission.

_'At least not yet, I hope.'_

I really hope me being with them didn't change this detail because my presence alone, had changed so many things in the plot that it's actually ridiculous.

Agreed, that the changes were not exactly _plot affecting_ (at least I hope they weren't—) but that didn't mean what I was doing was something right either.

But, then again, I just couldn't leave either. Zenitsu and Tanjiro were very adamant about keeping me here with them, and that showed when almost every morning, the first thing they did was to greet me in my room.

It was really sweet at first, but now it felt heart-wrenching since I realized how easily they had bonded with me.

_'They both have lost so many people in their lives...' _I thought, smiling wistfully as I stared down at my reflection in the milk in my cup, _'Can I... really leave now? Will I break their hearts if I did? Would they feel betrayed if they ever knew who I really was? Can I... ever be myself again?'_

There were so many things that we didn't know the answer to, and so many people spent their entire lives to find these answers— and yet, here I was, not willing to divulge into such quests as I was already familiar with the heartache it caused.

A life devoid of any kind of drive— that's the kind of life I was leading.

"Miyasha-san!"

"Hm?" I turned back to look at Tanjiro, who was sprinting towards me for some reason, "What happened, Jiro-kun? Did Itsu-kun try to peek into the wooden box, again?"

For the last four weeks, my time with the three boys had been interesting to say the least.

Despite the each of them sustaining at least two broken ribs, none of them behaved in any way that made it seem so— always jumping, head-butting or screaming at the top of their lungs at almost any given hour.

Not to mention that Zenitsu had started showing his real colours— not that he was ever hiding them deliberately in the first place. He was apparently just a little... shy in front me, I guess? I didn't know, but whatever it was, it had worn off. And for the better or worse, I wasn't able to decide yet.

"No, he's not touching the box again. I wanted to ask you if you were going to the town again, today?" Tanjiro looked hopefully at me.

"I was thinking to, actually." I replied motioning him to sit down on the porch beside me, "Why, did you need something?"

Tanjiro nodded, sitting beside me as he replied, "I needed a needle and some thread..."

"Oh? What happened? Did you accidentally tear your..." Well, the uniforms can't exactly be torn without some level of extreme force, so, "...haori?"

Tanjiro smiled sheepishly at me, nodding as he continued, "Inosuke suddenly started chasing me again last night and we fell on Zenitsu when he entered the room... accidentally tearing his haori's sleeve."

I let out a short laugh, shaking my head at their ridiculous antics as Tanjiro scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.

"I have some with me in my satchel, but I'm not exactly sure if I have the right colour of thread with me." I replied off-handedly, sipping my warm milk as I took a long breath, "Leave the haori with me, and I'll see what I can do, okay?"

"But, Miyasha-san—"

"How many times have I told you to drop the honorific, dear?" I raised my eyebrow at him teasingly, "Anyway, don't worry, your 'Miyasha-san' knows how to mend clothes, I assure you. Though, I still may ask Hisa-obasan to help me with the thread, since I most likely don't have that colour combination with me."

I gave a Tanjiro a look, daring him to challenge me, which he didn't because he knew better. One month in, and it was almost like the four of us knew most of the peculiar habits of each other— especially my own.

Tanjiro simply smiled, conversing a few more minutes with me before offering to take my now empty cup with him back to the kitchen.

"Thank you, dear."

"You're welcome, Miyasha-san!" I shook my head with a smile on lips, wondering when he will actually start listening to me.

My days at the manor was really calming— except the occasional havoc these three caused.

The porch in this manor was very wide and had a good amount of sunlight reaching it— making it a perfect place for me to meditate/sleep there. I mostly slept there in the mornings as I tried to meditate— when my brain had calmed down enough to have some rest.

It was very peaceful and the absence of almost any kind of noise made this place heavenly.

My eyes closed instinctively, sleep trickling in as the warm rays of sunlight traced any skin I had left exposing. The soft chirping of birds made into a beautiful lullaby, encouraging me to fall into a dream-less sleep.

* * *

**(~×~)**

* * *

"Isn't it strange how she sleeps in the mornings instead of the night?" Zenitsu off-handedly remarked, as they cleaned their respective swords and sheaths.

"Eh?" Tanjiro turned to look at where Zenitsu was staring; noticing Miyasha pleasantly dozing off on the porch, "It's... not?"

"What?"

"It's not strange," Tanjiro continued, "She is too used to hunting in the night, that's why she sleeps in the day. She did explain this to us..."

_'Does he honestly believes that...?' _Zenitsu thought with a sweatdrop.

"Or maybe it is because of her blood..." Tanjiro suddenly suggested, grabbing Zenitsu's interest.

"Blood? But isn't her blood..."

"Yes," Tanjiro nodded, focusing back on his sword, "But I feel like her needing exposure to sunlight to sleep is also because of her blood? I don't know..."

_'If it is... it'll explain many things.' _Zenitsu thought, intently staring at the elder female's sleeping figure before focusing back on cleaning his strangely soiled sheath.

* * *

**(~×~)**

* * *

_'Okay, so first they heal completely from the broken ribs, and then the crow comes in with the mission, right? So, that means Doctor Takahashi would have to give them clearance before they leave_—_' _I sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of my nose as I cursed internally again.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not remember beyond some certain details of the manga— I didn't know if it was because of being reborn or because it had been a good seventeen years or so, since I last read the manga or even watched the anime.

The only way I could force myself to remember some of the plot details was as we went through the plot itself— just like how I remembered that the kids were supposed to be inside that mansion with Tanjiro and Zenitsu _after _almost all of it happened. Like an idiot.

I sighed again, closing my journal where I was noting these things in _Hindi_— so that no one could decipher it by any chance. Not that there was much to go by in it anyway.

After brain-storming a few more minutes, I left my room and went out to the hallway to get some fresh air; smiling as I heard commotion from the boys' room.

_'Looks like Zenitsu is following Nezuko again.' _I shook my head in amusement, passing by their room as I found Inosuke sitting in the hallway quietly, looking at the sky as if he was ruminating about something.

Suddenly his stomach growled, making him look down and mutter to himself, "Man, I'm hungry."

"Don't worry," I started, making him turn to me in surprise, "Dinner will be served soon. Why don't you go ahead and change your clothes?" I casually suggested as I took a seat beside him, making him stare at me all the while.

It was quite unnerving to be stared by him, if I were to be honest. With such a big and yet, clean boar mask, it looked quite strange when he looked at me. Sometimes, making me feel as if the big blue eyes of his mask moved like actual pupils.

"Pardon me, Sir, Ma'am." Hisa-obasan suddenly appeared, making us both turn to her. She sat gracefully in between us with some clean clothes (which I assumed was Inosuke's) in her hands.

She bowed respectfully, smiling as she said politely, "I am sorry if I disturbed you."

"You didn't, oba-san! Please do not apologized." I gratefully smiled, making her nod and turn to Inosuke.

"Those clothes of yours are quite soiled, I see." She remarked politely to Inosuke, "I'll clean them for you, so please wear these meanwhile." She pleasantly finished, slightly moving the clothes towards him.

"They are pleasing to the touch and quite comfortable." She added, all the while smiling politely, "How does tempura sounds for dinner? You know, something covered with batter and fried." She asked, her soft brown eyes darting to us both.

"It sounds amazing, oba-san!" I replied enthusiastically, smiling at the polite old lady, "If you need any help, please do not hesitate to tell me, oba-san! I'd love to help."

Hisa-obasan merely smiled, "You are a guest here, ma'am; I cannot I ask you to help like that... but thank you for offering, Miss."

I smiled in defeat, letting her lead Inosuke towards the bathing area as she carried his clothes with her.

_'Inosuke is too well behaved around the old lady nowadays...' _I mused as I watched them disappear around the corner, turning back to the sky as I slowly swung my feet in the air, _'He did grow some kind of attachment to her, didn't he? I mean, he did had those 'anime sparkles' around her when she politely helped him with things...'_

It was funny how I remembered these useless things from the manga but couldn't remember half the things that happened during their mountain mission.

_'Many demon slayers had died during that mission though... if I remembered correctly.' _I frowned, placing a hand under my chin in thought, _'The... mother spider had killed them, I think? Through her strings? But then what? The father spider came in maybe, but... how did Tanjiro meet Rui then? Wasn't Giyuu the one who killed the father demon? Then how...?'_

I brooded over the subject for some while, concentrating on getting the timeline of the events right, before I was distracted by stomping behind me; a sudden aggressive yell could be heard from Inosuke as he slid open the doors of his room.

I turned to look back at the commotion, hearing Inosuke head-butt Tanjiro before yelling again and starting to chase him.

"Hold up, hold up! Stop chasing us, Inosuke!"

"Tanjiro...!"

I shook my head in amusement again, leaving those four to their devices— I'm not going to intervene in their 'quality-team-building-time'; not to mention it was more amusing to just watch.

* * *

"You're fully healed." Doctor Takahashi declared, delicately turning my wrist over in his hand as he looked over it one last time, "Does it still pains?"

"No, Doctor." I answered honestly, "At least not till I put too much pressure on it."

He simply nods, packing his bag as he replied, "That pain may not ever go away." He said bluntly, looking sadly at me as he got up, "Keep exercising with that hand daily, but don't put too much pressure or exertion on it. Avoid carrying heavy things in your right hand too."

I nodded soberly, thanking him for his treatment. The boys looked at me sympathetically, which I pointedly avoided as I got up and left for my room.

_'Fuck, fuck, __**fuck. **__The plot didn't even fucking started and I already got myself a fucking disadvantage_—_ as if my body already wasn't weak enough that this added to it.' _I took in a deep breath, shuddering out all the negative thoughts I had.

This was not the time for all this.  
The boys were now completely healed- and that meant the message for the next mission will be arriving any day now.

_'What... should I do now, then?' _My mind raced with ideas— maybe I could leave now? Tell them I had some patients to look at in some other town? Or maybe I could go with them... and save those other demon slayers-?

_'Could I really though?' _I frowned, looking up at the blue sky as I stood in middle of the hallway, _'Am I really ready to take the responsibility of so many lives?'_

"—asha-san! Miyasha-san!" Someone called me from behind, breaking me away from my thoughts as I turned back to see the three boys jogging towards me, "Miyasha-san!" Tanjiro called again, finally reaching me as he straightened looked at me in the eye, "I'm sorry that happened to you!"

"Eh...?"

"Your wrist..." Zenitsu started, as Tanjiro continued for him, "I'm really sorry for your wrist, Miyasha-san!"

"What... are you talking about?" I honestly looked at them weird, "Whatever happened was because of my own carelessness— I was the one who jumped in front of that demon without any proper plan, like an idiot. What role did you play in it?"

Tanjiro opened his mouth to reply, to which I instantly cut him off, "None. So, stop apologizing."

"But—"

"Don't." I repeated, sighing as I gave them a soft smile, "Trust me, it isn't much big of an issue either. So, don't worry, okay?"

Tanjiro didn't say anything further after that; he just kept looking at me apologetically before Inosuke huffed and commented about how weak I was.

The corner of my mouth twitched as Tanjiro and Zenitsu started reprimanding him, resulting in a big yelling contest as Inosuke kept on denying to apologize.

_'He isn't exactly wrong...' _I mused as I noticed— not for the first time —that the boys were taller than me. Not by much; barely an inch or two, but taller nonetheless.

"It's okay, boys!" I tried to interject, "Stop forcing Inosuke to apologize— he didn't say anything wrong after all."

"You're not weak, Miyasha-san!" Zenitsu yelled, making me smile widely.

"I am _physically_ weak, Itsu-kun." I commented, turning away slowly to walk towards my room, "But that does not make me any less powerful." I finished, smiling at Inosuke as I turned around the corner and left the boys in the hallway.

* * *

"Mount Natagumo, you say?" I asked off-handedly as I continued packing my satchel. It had been about two days since the doctor diagnosed us to be fully recovered, and the message for the next mission had already arrived.

"Hai, Miyasha-san." Tanjiro relayed, "Tennoji came in with the message just a few minutes ago."

"That's good then." I simply commented, at a loss of words for what to say, "Are you gonna leave immediately for the mission, then?" I finally asked, to which Tanjiro nodded, sitting cross-legged in front of me.

"Thank you for informing me then." I smiled, "I'll be leaving along with you too, then."

Tanjiro nodded again, leaving the room immediately to give me some time to collect my belongings.

I sighed at my situation, pondering again over my decision. I had spent almost all of this lifetime resenting the _Gods _and the whole Demon Slayer anime, and yet here I was— planning to go to a canon mission willingly.

_'But if I didn't... many people will die_—_' _  
Not that I was confident that I could save them either, but the thought of turning a blind eye and letting them die was heavier than disrupting the plot itself.

_'Not to mention, them not dying won't exactly effect the plot...' _I reasoned with myself, _'And I could very well just leave before Shinobu and Giyuu's arrival_—_ not that they would be paying much attention to me; after all, I was only a civilian to them and nothing more...' _

.  
.

"We're heading out now." Tanjiro started, bowing as he thanked the old lady standing in front of us, "Thank you for everything."

Zenitsu and I followed his example— bowing and thanking her just as Tanjiro did. Inosuke meanwhile looked at us incredulously.

Oba-san bowed as well, "Now then, for good luck..." she produced a set of _sekiei_ (quartz) and _hiuchigane _(steel striker), smiling politely as she moved towards us.

Tanjiro thanked her gratefully, turning around along with Zenitsu. Inosuke simply looked confused, so I stepped up to explain the custom to him, "It is for a purification ceremony called _Kiribi_," I started as I turned around as well, "In which you send someone off by striking a stone with steel so that sparks fall on their back as a sign of good luck."

"Hah...?" Inosuke looked at me, "Why would she wish good luck for us—"

"Just quiet down and turn around!" I insisted, grabbing his shoulders and turning him around against his wish.

"Oi—"

.

...

"Always live your lives with great pride." Oba-san sweetly advised, "I wish you luck in battle!"

Everyone expect Inosuke bowed, after which we finally departed for the next mission.

"Great pride? Luck in battle? What does that mean?" a clueless Inosuke asked as we jogged our way through the forest around the mountains.

"Hm," I hummed, wondering how to explain it, "There are many people who waste their whole lives away, not knowing their places and thus, don't feel great pride in the way they are living. That is why she advised us to live with great pride and to never be ashamed of ourselves."

"When she wished us good luck," Tanjiro added, turning to look back at us, "Oba-san was also praying for our safety!"

"So, what is this 'place'?" Inosuke asked further, "What do you mean by 'never ashamed'?"

"Well it's—"

"Why in the hell would that old hag pray for our safety anyway? She has nothing do with us, then why?"

"It's not like that—"

"She has no clue what her own place is, does she?"

Upon hearing Inosuke's demeaning words for oba-san, Tanjiro seemed to decide to just move faster to avoid any such talks between them.

As he sped up, Inosuke growled loudly and started running as well, "You won't beat me!"

"Wait up...!"

"May Lord help us..."

* * *

The Sun was almost down the horizon by the time we even reached the region that mountain was in.

The dread in my chest grew with every step as we neared the mountain.

"Miyasha-san?" Tanjiro suddenly called me, making me look up to him as we were walking down the road. The sky above us was almost dark blue now— one could even see the moon as the last rays of sunlight gradually faded away from the sky.

"Hai...?"

"I..." Tanjiro hesitated, frowning as if rethinking what he wanted to say, "We... are now fully recovered, aren't we?"

"Yes...?"

"Then..." he hesitated to speak, making me really nervous about the whole thing.

_'He did seem to discreetly stare at me throughout the journey...'_

"Just spit it out." I bluntly replied, the dread in my chest growing heavier as we almost stopped in our path, "What happened?"

"Miyasha-san..." Tanjiro turned his gaze away from me, "I think... you should stay behind for this mission..."

_'What...?'_

"I... am getting some very bad vibes." Tanjiro confessed, his voice barely above a whisper as finally Zenitsu and Inosuke noticed us stopping, "I don't want to hurt you further... Especially not without your knowledge."

"I... what are you talking about Tanjiro?" My mind was drawing blanks— I knew what he was talking about but... I just...

"I'm asking you to stay behind for this mission." He bluntly replied, his eyes staring at me with a silent plea, "I can smell some very strong demons from that mountain... and I don't want you get hurt again." He looked down at my hands, making me look at them as well, "Especially not when you didn't even want to come with us in first place..."

"Tanjiro..."

"You can... leave us too, if you want to." He softly said, making me freeze at his words.

"We'll understand if you do." Zenitsu added, darting his eyes away from me as I looked at him.

My stomach fell down to my toes, the barely suppressed dread from before came back with a vengeance; spreading through my whole body... leaving it cold.

_'I-I...' _My breath hitched as I looked at the three boys, my eyes darting from face to face, _'I... really do have a choice now, don't I?'_

Honestly, I almost wanted to laugh at the irony of this situation— when I didn't wanted to be involved, I didn't had a choice except to do so, and when I _did _decide that I wanted to be involved with the plot, I was given a way out.

_'Why... why does all this only happens with me?'_

* * *

_**Cliffhanger... maybe? **_

_**This will be Miyasha's "to the point of no return" kinda decision**—** because honestly, how far will she go if she keeps blaming her luck for everything?**_

_**Anyway! Now, onto the review replies~!**_

**Einklley****: ****_Okay, I actually agree on the part that I showed Zenitsu a little too milder than he normally is xD It wasn't intentional, but yeah, now that you point it out, it does seem he keeps on following her like a duckling, lol. It's too early for him to do that— Anyhoo, Miyasha shutting Zenitsu when he becomes too hysteric to handle was intentional because she was too tired to handle ANYTHING. The only reason she was not blowing off on them (most of the time), was because it kept playing in her mind that 'They are innocent children and they don't deserve your shit'. Miyasha's exclusion from canon conversations was mostly intentional, because she kept her way out of it let them "develop their dynamics" which she thinks she is severely interrupting. Not to mention that since this was from a particular perspective, shifting attention made her a background character in many of the scenes (if you get what I mean). Now, about mentioning Miyasha during the last fight... well, I honestly didn't thought about it xD I am completely not used to writing characters like Zenitsu, so thank you so much for pointing these mistakes out to me! I'll try my best to write him better in the future chapters._**

**Guest 1****:_ I'm so sorry for my bad grammar! I promise I'm working on it and would be editing the whole of this fanfic soon so that it won't be an issue! And about the AU parts_**_**— I'm extremely sorry if they pull you out of the story! The only reason I'm adding them along with the main story is because the manga as well as anime has these AUs and I wanted to follow the same aesthetics! Unfortunately, they don't have enough material to be turned into a book of their own, so, I'll have to continue adding them here! Please forgive me for that ^^;; Still, thank you so much for the reviews and giving this fanfic a chance!**_

**natonatonii: **_**Ooh! I'm really glad to hear you are going for medical! Please do tell me whenever I'm medically inaccurate in this book xD I had science stream in my highschool, but turned to law instead in college; so, I know only the basics about medical treatments... I really hope I do not disappoint you with my medical ignorance xD**_

**TheBlueAmethyst:_ Welcome back! I'm really glad you liked the story so far_****_— I promise I'll edit this whole fanfic after the Infinity Train arc :') _**_**—and about Shinobu and the Kakushi; they'll be introduced a few chapters later in the story, that's why I didn't showed them anywhere near the manor for now. Not to mention that the kakushi normally only treat patients on the battlefield or the butterfly estate— these manors have their own specific doctors. **__**Unfortunately, I didn't showed Miyasha doing anything productive during this time period because of her injuries and because she needed some time to decide what her next move should be. As she is an overthinker, she didn't exactly focused on anything else than that either :')**_

**Guest**** 2: _First of all, thank you so much for your reviews! I'm really glad you liked my fanfic! And secondly, her war fans are a little different than of the ones you are thinking, but I assure you, they are pretty badass as well! Thank you so much for giving my fanfic a chance!_**

**_And that's all for the replies! And damn, there were sooooo many reviews! Thank you so much to you all for reviewing and giving me motivation to work! You all spoil me so much TwT_**

**_I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!_**

**_Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D_**

**_Stay safe and stay healthy!_**


	29. Chapter 27

**Warning: **  
_Intense scenes (blood and creepy spiders)_

* * *

A laugh finally escaped from my lips, making the three demon slayers look at me in surprise— but I couldn't care less at this point.  
Or maybe I could?

_'Fuck it. I ain't changing the decision I took a whole month to make.'_

"Don't be so bloody stupid, Kamado." I spat out, my voice still light with laughter, "You think you're the only one who's getting bad _**vibes **_from that mountain? I can literally _**feel **_those demons' auras— and I know _exactly _how ugly it's gonna be. So, stop overthinking and leave that work to the professionals."

Tanjiro blinked twice in disbelief, "Miyasha-san, I... I am not joking..."

"Neither am I, kid." I remarked, shaking my head as I tried my best to disperse the ever-growing dread in my chest, "Look, I know _exactly _what I'm getting into— I knew it when we were attacked at Tamayo's residence as well as when I agreed to go with you on your previous mission. Just 'cause my wrist has a permanent pain doesn't means I can't use it _at all._ So, stop worrying."

"I didn't mean to offend—"

"You didn't." I firmly replied, giving him a half smile as I started walking past them, "You actually freed me, if I were to be honest." I vaguely stated, not bothering to explain further.

"And Zenitsu," I continued, giving the blond demon slayer a wink, "Even if you guys don't mind, I sure as hell will."

Zenitsu blinked twice, blushing slightly as he stuttered, "B-But... that mountain—"

"That mountain what...? Has people who need our help? Demons who we need to kill?" I fired back, frowning as we stood stagnant at one spot. We were almost near the mountain and if anything, I wanted to get all this over with before the Hashiras joined the party.

"Zenitsu, what's wrong?" Tanjiro asked as well, when he noticed the blond slayer curl down on the ground gradually.

"I'm scared, all right?" Zenitsu admitted, tears slowly starting to leak from the corner of his eyes, "Now that we're finally nearing our destination, I... I'm so scared!"

We all stared blankly at him for few a seconds before Inosuke spoke up,  
"Why the hell is he sitting? How creepy is that?"

I bit down a smile at that comment as Zenitsu insulted Inosuke back, screaming as he pointed at the mountain and repeated the fact how we all were getting bad vibes from it.

"Still, what good will it do to just sit there...?" Tanjiro asked innocently.

"I told you, he's creepy."

"Don't patronize him, Inosuke..." I glowered at Inosuke as Zenitsu screamed again about how we were the abnormal ones, not him.

_'Pot calling the kettle black—'_

A sudden shiver went down my spine, making me immediately turn towards the mountain.

_'That's...' _I tried to place what I was feeling, _'That's... a very strange way of aura inflation.'_

"What? What's wrong?" Zenitsu asked, panic evident in his voice, "Hey... what happened?"

"Something... doesn't feels right." I commented absentmindedly before Tanjiro took off after claiming he was smelling something strange as well.

"Hey! Wait!" Zenitsu yelped, "Come on! Don't leave me here by myself!"

Inosuke followed Tanjiro without hesitation which I did as well when I noticed Zenitsu finally stood up to follow us.

We were almost at the foot of the mountain when we noticed the fallen body of a young demon slayer.

_'He's still alive.' _I deduced, rushing past the boys to approach him as I kneeled down to check the slayer's injuries, _'I still feel... a demonic aura_ _surrounding him—'_

The boy looked up at me, "H-Help me..." he begged as tears leaked from his eyes, "P-Please help me..."

"Are you alright?" Tanjiro asked as he approached us; Inosuke and Zenitsu following just behind him, "What happened?"

Suddenly the hair at the base of my neck stood up, making me immediately retrieve my fans out from the holster deep within the sleeves of my haori.

The very next moment, the slayer's whole body was jerked up— my hold on him made me stumble as well, but Tanjiro instantly caught my waist from behind.

Without any hesitation, I immediately cut off the now visible strings at the back of the slayer's uniform, making us fall on the ground simultaneously.

"Inosuke!" I yelled, feeling the demon trying to drag him by the strings still attached to the slayer's lower half, "Cut the strings near his legs, now!" I ordered desperately, which he fortunately followed without any question.

"T-They were attached to me, too..." The slayer trembled, almost fainting from the shock of it all.

"Calm down, there are no longer any strings on you..." I tried reassuring him, "At least, I feel no strings on you."

"W-What happened there?" Tanjiro asked, trying his best to control the quiver in his voice.

"Huh?" Suddenly Inosuke started, making us look at his palms, "What the hell is this?"

"It... has a strange sweet scent on—"

"Sp-Spider webs..." the slayer relayed, his whole body still trembling in fear, "Th-There are s-spider demons there who a-ar-are—"

"Shh..." I immediately stopped the young male, noticing him almost having a panic attack, "Calm down, you're safe. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, okay?"

"Hey! Why the hell are y—"

"Because if I don't stop him now," I firmly started, cutting off Inosuke as I focused on the young male in front of me, "He'll go into a panic attack. He is in no condition to retell what happened to him, at least not right now." I slowly stood up, looking down at the slayer in front me. He wouldn't be older than sixteen and yet...

"I'm going." Tanjiro declared, looking determined despite his still trembling hands.

"I will, as well." I replied back, just as Inosuke replied, "I'll go on ahead." as he pushed Tanjiro back and started on forward.

"You can follow me, shivering." Inosuke proudly declared, making a half smile form on my lips, "This is making me hungry..."

_'Brave fool.'_

"Inosuke..." Tanjiro stared at him for a couple of seconds, before turning to me, "Miyasha-san... are you..."

"I am." I firmly stated, looking down at the passed out teen, "I can feel many on the mountain like him, alive. They need my help, Tanjiro-kun— they need us."

Tanjiro nodded, while Inosuke suddenly gave a somewhat happy laughter and yelled for us to go.

"Zenitsu-kun," I looked back at him; my heart cracking at his shivering form, "Be safe, okay?" I finally said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Also..." I glanced at the fainted slayer again, "Please take him a good few meters away from this mountain, if you can."

Just as I started walking, Zenitsu called me, "Miyasha-san!" I looked back at the blond demon slayer, who had his hand stretched towards me like a child, "I... please don't go..."

I instantly closed my eyes, trying to stop the tears forming in them from flowing down. How could I even think about leaving these lovable idiots...

_'Because I don't belong here...'_

"Zenitsu," I started, taking a deep breath as I slowly moved away from him, "This... is my job. I'm sorry, dear." I gave him one last smile before sprinting towards the mountain.

_'Whoever brought me here, please listen to my one and only request— please help me, tonight. Just for tonight.'_

* * *

"Che! This place is full of spider webs!" Inosuke complained as he shook his hands vigorously, "What a pain!"

"Please be careful— these can easily be one of the spider demon's strings... or webs, whichever you prefer to call it." I reminded them.

"You're right..." Tanjiro off-handedly replied, making me look at him strangely.

"What happened? Is something on your mind?" I frowned, asking him without any hesitation.

_'If he replies about me going back again, then I'm gonna smack him straight.'_

"Inosuke? Miyasha?" I blinked in surprise at him suddenly dropping the honorific, "Thank you."

"Hah?"

"You said you'd come with me, so I felt encouraged." He continued, "That twisted, ominous scent I was picking up from the mountain... It made me freeze a little. So... thank you for giving me the courage!" He gave us both a close-eyed smile.

"Idiot..." I muttered, making Tanjiro look at me in surprise, "It's alright to feel scared, you know? And we'll always be here to help you." I commented, slowly reaching out to pat him instinctively.

Tanjiro froze slightly under my touch, discouraging me from patting him— so, to not make it awkward any further, I patted him once and moved my hand away.

Before any of us could say anything, Tanjiro suddenly frowned and looked towards a figure walking in the distance.

"There's someone there." He said, slowly moving forward, "Let's go."

_'So, here it starts, eh?'_

We three climbed the mountain as swiftly as we could, and approached the demon slayer hiding behind the trees.

_'How scared is he to not be aware of his surroundings __**at all**__?'_

Tanjiro extended a hand towards his shoulder, to which the male reacted immediately and turned back towards us in fear.

"We've come for backup." Tanjiro bluntly stated, "I'm Kamado Tanjiro, rank Mizunoto."

"Mizunoto..." the male repeated, before frowning in despair, "Mizunoto? Why didn't they send a Hashira!?"

Tanjiro's eyes widened as the male continued, "No matter how many Mizunoto they send, it won't help! It's pointless...!"

Suddenly Inosuke stepped up and punched him, making me jump at the unexpected act.

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro yelled, while Inosuke ignored him and proceeded to thoroughly reprimand the slayer in front of us, "Shut up! As far as pointlessness goes, your existence itself has no point at all!" He grabbed the slayer's hair, whispering in a threatening voice, "Now, tell me what's going on, you spineless fool!"

"Who the hell are you?!" The unknown male replied in panic, "Don't forget I'm your senior!"

"Inosuke!" I whispered loudly, tugging his away from the slayer's head, "Don't attack him! Let him speak."

"Thank you..." He said, while frowning as he took a look at my clothes, "Wait, are you not a—"

"Please tell us what is happening so we can actually take the measures needed to prevent any further deaths." I politely requested, to which he immediately followed as Inosuke huffed loudly behind me.

"Th-The crow gave us the order!" He started, scooting away from Inosuke as he continued, "And ten of us demon slayers arrived here. Not long after we entered the mountain, the slayers... the slayers started killing each other! I... I had to..." he trembled as tears fell from his eyes in guilt.

"It's okay..." I squeezed his shoulder, making the slayer look at me, "You did what you had to do in order to survive. The slayers were most likely control by that string demon, making them unable to control their own bodies..."

"S-String demon—?" the slayer froze, hearing the strange sounds at the same moment as we did.

"What is this sound...?" Tanjiro wondered out loud, as we all looked around to find the source of the said sound.

"There it is again!" The unnamed slayer started again, "It's this sound again! The last time I heard this sound, everyone started killing each other!"

"Strings..." I muttered, grabbing everyone's attention around me, "This is the sound of strings being strained against objects..."

Tanjiro's eyes widened, "Where's it coming from?"

"I don't kno—" I stopped mid-sentence, looking at the side where a figure seemed to be approaching us from the shadows of the dark forest around us.

_'They are humans but...' _My breath quickened, _'They are surrounded by a strong demon aura...!'_

Tanjiro and the unnamed slayer stood up as they noticed the 'puppets' approaching.

"Boys," I started, opening my fans as one of the slayers broke through the crowd and approached us, "Do not harm them! They are only—" I blocked the slayer's attack on us, immediately moving to cut all the strings on his back, "—controlled by the demon! Cut the strings of web from their backs instead!"

"All right." Inosuke huffed, immediately throwing a puppet slayer on the ground, "Cut the strings? I'll show you how to do them!"

Inosuke jumped over some of the slayers, slashing his swords wildly which resulted in all the strings on them being severed.

"Well done, Inosuke!" I praised him enthusiastically, my body pumping adrenaline at full speed. Inosuke huffed loudly at the praise, but before he could say anything, Tanjiro spoke up.

"There are small spiders," Tanjiro yelled, making us look at him in surprise, "Which are attaching the threads!"

I noticed some spiders moving around my feet as well, making me stomp on the ones approaching me.

_'Thank fucking God, I don't have arachnophobia.'_

"It's not good enough to just cut the threads!" Tanjiro continued, "The spiders are just gonna stick more puppet strings onto them! So—" Suddenly Tanjiro stopped mid-sentence, clutching his nose as he physically flinched.

"So, all we gotta do is kill those damn spiders, huh?" Inosuke asked, preparing his sword to attack.

"That would be impossible! Those spiders are tiny and I'm sure there are tons of them! We gotta find the demon who's controlling them!"

"Let me help you with the spiders part, then!" I exclaimed, retrieving a flask of red liquid from my satchel. I immediately sprinkled some on the ground nearby, producing white flames simultaneously as the small spiders burned under the effects of the solution made from my blood.

"Tanjiro, can you smell the demon—?" I asked absent-mindedly as the puppets started attacking us again.

"I can't! In this weird smell flowing in, my nose isn't working great!" Tanjiro confessed while blocking a slash from one of the puppets, "Can't you pinpoint it either, Miyasha-san?"

"I can only give you a very vague direction of the demon," I admitted, cutting off the strings on the puppets near me by gliding my fans over their heads, "Inosuke! Can you pinpoint the demon's direction?" I asked urgently, already knowing the answer.

"Hah? Of course I can—!"

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro called him as well, cutting the strings on the puppet he was fighting with, "Go and find that demon! Me and..."

"Murata! It's Murata!" The unnamed slayer finally introduced himself, making Tanjiro nod at him once.

My body suddenly stiffened— the strong concentrated aura of a demon was so close to us... _too close_.

"Me, Murata-san and Miyasha-san will deal with the puppets!" Tanjiro declared, "Inosuke, you—"

My breath hitched as the demon finally showed his face, which was as pale as moonlight.

_'Rui...'_

Even Tanjiro had stopped mid-sentence to stare at the intruder.

"Don't disturb my family's peaceful life..." he monotonously declared, his pale white figure shading over us as he walked barefoot on the thin webs suspended overhead, "Mother will kill you all right away."

_'His aura... is so __**dense. **__Much denser, but still familiar to the other demons' inhabiting this mountain.'_

"Mother...?" Tanjiro wondered out loud, meanwhile Inosuke gave out a war cry and jumped over the back of a still standing puppet to attack the lower Demon Moon. Unfortunately, he still couldn't achieve that height as he slashed his swords just a few inches under him.

"Damn you!" Inosuke cursed as he fell down, the demon slowly walking away as he didn't even bother to pay any attention to the attacking demon slayer, "Where the hell do you think you're going? Fight—"

"I-Inosuke," I yelled, "Look out!" At the last moment, the masked-boy flipped over and landed on his feet; making me sigh in relief.

"Why did he showed up anyway..." Inosuke huffed, looking towards the direction the Demon Moon had disappeared.

_'Should I...' _I gulped, looking at Tanjiro asking Inosuke to track the string-manipulating demon down, _'Should I tell them that Rui was a lower Demon Moon...?'_

"Shut up already, forehead!" Inosuke yelled, half-burying his swords over the ground he was standing before he stretched both of his hands out as he kneeled on one knee.

"_Beast Breathing Seventh Form, Spatial Awareness!_"

I could literally feel his aura expanding— flowing through in waves as it almost covered the whole mountain.

_'Th-That's fucking amazing!' _I stared at the young male in front of me, _'He just expanded his aura over a radius of more than ten kilometres!'_

A proud smile made its way over my face. I honestly forgot how insanely talented these kids were...

_'So much so that this forest-boy made a breath style completely on his own...'_

"Found it!" Inosuke proudly declared, "There you are!" I could still feel his aura burn around his body as he got on his feet.

"It's that way!" He pointed to my left direction, "I'm picking up a powerful vibe from over there, about three kilometres away!"

"That's fucking brilliant, Inosuke!" I praised, no longer able to keep it inside me, "Your aura flared and covered so much distance! Even better than my own! Amazing!"

Suddenly a sword came down on my left side, making me jump away from the attacker.

"We gotta take care of these guys first or we'll never get anywhere!" Inosuke declared as I jumped again and landed beside him.

"Shit," Tanjiro cursed, "Isn't there... Isn't there any way at all?"

"There is!" I yelled as I jumped over the puppets, cutting their strings again, "My blood can keep those bloody spiders away! If I sprinkle it over their body, those spiders won't be able to even touch them—" I immediately took out the flask again and sprinkled a generous amount over the puppets' bodies.

"B-Blood?" Murata looked at us confused, "How can that—"

"I'll explain that to you lat—" I was cut off by another incoming attack from the puppets, but before I could defend myself, Murata blocked the attack.

"Leave these guys to me and go on ahead!" He exclaimed bravely, to which Inosuke off-handedly replied, "What kind of talk is that, -My-Pants?"

_'Please just, kill me now.' _I shook my head disappointingly as Murata defended himself and Inosuke insulted him again.

"Enough!" I yelled, blocking another puppet's attack with one fan as the flask was in my other one, "This is not the time for your squabbles!"

"I know! I can handle them!" Murata started again, "I know what you saw before wasn't my finest moment, but I'm a Demon Slayer, too!" He proceeded to cut the strings behind the puppets I was blocking, giving me the chance to sprinkle it with my blood solution as well. "Now, when I know I just need to slash the threads, I can easily handle them! They can only make the most elementary movements as well, so you three go on!"

"I'm not going." I declared adamantly as I swiftly freed another puppet from their strings, simultaneously sprinkling the liquid over their body, "I can stop these people from becoming puppets! So, let me stay and fight here with you, Murata-san!"

I turned to Tanjiro and Inosuke, "You two go on ahead! Find the demon causing this and terminate them, now!"

"Understood! We appreciate this!" Tanjiro thanked briefly, dragging Inosuke with him as we continued to fight the puppets.

Inosuke's angry yells could still be heard from here, making me bite back a laugh.

"Would you shut up? Just drop it and get out of here!"

"I'm so gonna punch you when I get back!" Inosuke yelled in the end, making me snicker at his childish behaviour.

"Such a child." I commented, before flipping my fans over another puppet, "Murata-san, let's finish here fast and move towards the other puppets, agreed?"

"What?" He blinked at me, confusion evident in his eyes, "But, how do you know there are more of—"

"I can feel them!" I replied as I sprinkled some blood over the body of another fallen puppet that Murata freed, "I may not be a Demon Slayer, but I assure you when I say I'm not any less experienced than one either, Murata-san."

* * *

"Okay. I'm gonna do it one more time, so make—"

"Inosuke! Tanjiro!" I rushed my way through the forest, finally finding them, "Are those demon slayers still alive?"

"Yes...?" Tanjiro replied, confusion evident in his tone, "What happ—"

"**CUT THE STRINGS CONNECTED TO THEM, NOW!**" I screamed while jumping against the tree near me to reach two slayers tangled just in front of me.

Just as I cut through the strings, their bodies were freed and thus, fell down towards the ground at full speed before Tanjiro and Murata (who was following me) caught them. Inosuke freed the man in front of him— leaving only one tangled up on a tree.

I immediately jumped down and rushed towards the only one left without wasting any time— but before I could reach him, we stood there watching as his head turned to an unnatural degree, breaking his neck with a sick crack.

I stood there, frozen as I stared at the boy I couldn't save...

_'No...' _My body trembled from grief, eyes watering as the harsh truth hit me in my face again...

_'I... I couldn't save him.'_

"Hah!" Inosuke moaned in anger, "Dammit! He is dead!"

_'If only... if only I had arrived a little earlier—'_

"Miyasha-san..." Tanjiro's gently squeezed my shoulder, "It's... I'm sorry I couldn't reach him before all this..."

I blinked back the tears, finally looking up at Tanjiro— I had somehow fell onto my knees and yet, I didn't even notice it.

"...We need..." I cleared my throat again, forcing myself to stand up, "We need to relocate them... I and Murata will do that... you and Inosuke continue towards the demon." I stated, my voice devoid of any emotions.

This was not the time to remorse.  
I have to protect them and treat them or else they'll die anyway.

"Miyasha-san..." I didn't dare to look back at Tanjiro; instead, I just stopped in my path as I looked down at the female demon slayer lying against the tree.

"Go." I softly said, "Stop that demon before it enslaves you too." I slowly picked up the female, mindful of her broken bones and injuries.

"There are several demons on this mountain." I informed them as I slowly moved back with the alive but silent demon slayer in my arms, "One of them is a lower Demon Moon... and I can feel his aura. Be careful... and please, try not to die, do you understand?"

"Hai... Miyasha-san."

"I'll be back where you found the other puppets." I commented, finally turning back to look at them, "When the Hashiras arrive, inform them of that place so that they can find the injured slayers. Till then, I'll be there— giving them a basic treatment."

With that, I and Murata carried the injured demon slayers back to where I had cleansed and marked an area for the survivors.

_'To whoever listening above, please give me the strength to protect these poor souls.'_

* * *

_**There, that's the next chapter! I'm sorry if it's confusing or rather plain— I'm not yet used to fighting scenes and I'm extremely sorry for that!**_

_**Anyhoo,**__**Miyasha here is busy being the medic force again— but don't think is it! This arc isn't over yet and she has a lot to dish out!**_

_**Now, here comes the review replies! **_

**Guest****: **_**First of all— thank you so much for your review! It gave me a good reader's perspective and I really can't thank you enough for that! And secondly, I actually agree with half the things you said in your review. It indeed is true that in many fanfics or stories females are made to go through extreme means to be "powerful", but it happens with males too! So yeah, I kinda disagree with that trend too but trust me when I say this is not like that! Her injury has a great significance here; even if it may seem unnecessary, it is not! She was extremely weakened when she received it and she only sustained that injury because she had to fight. Her injury signified her willingness go protect and that is why Tanjiro apologized for it. Anyway, the main reason I gave her this injury because this is gonna be her physical reminder for many of the things— which I'll slowly paint as the story goes! And thirdly, wait for this arc to end and then we'll talk about her badassary together ;) And about your questions— maybe the demons can procreate? I don't know since the Mangaka didn't exactly specify anything about that; but I'll take it as a yes and will assume that the only reason they normally don't is since Muzan's cells in them avoid them from doing so. Other than that, since the manga is based around the 1900s, I'll assume she's Muzan's child since the tradition of remarriages (especially when you already have a child) was uncommon in Asia. I do have some theories of my own about his daughter, that I most likely will be stating in the future chapters, so I hope you don't mind waiting for those! {And I really loved your long review!}**_

**MysticKai****: **_**Heya! Glad to find ya here too! ^^ Love ya too!**_

**Einklley****: **_**Oh my Gawd, I'm so sorry xD I was talking about the characters' injuries when I stated that xD I'm so sorry! But yeah, I really hope to shock you through my story at least once. That'll be my new motto :')**_

_**That's it for the review replies! Thank you so much for reviewing and giving me your point of views— trust me, these help me a lot as a writer!**_

_**And that's it for the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! **__**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	30. Chapter 28

**Warning:**  
_Intense scene (blood and injury description)_

* * *

"Ozaki-san," I softly called out her name, gently tapping her cheeks to keep her awake, "Ozaki-san, I need you to stay awake, dear. I know it's difficult to keep your eyes open, but if you fall sleep now, you may never be able to wake up again."

Ozaki slowly blinked, trying her best to stay awake.

"Murata-san, can you hand me another splint please?"

"Yes, just a minute."

Seven survivors; there were total of seven survivors from the whole cluster of bodies. And even then these survivors weren't in much better condition either.

_'If only I_ _had better equipment and some proper help—'_

Not that I wasn't grateful for Murata helping me, but most of these slayers had severely broken bones— some of them were even facing severe internal bleeding, which I wasn't able to treat properly due to lack of equipment.

As a matter of fact, the only thing I could do right now was to disinfect their open wounds and wrap them; I had also wrapped their broken limbs in splints and parts of my haori as I didn't had enough bandages with me for it.

_'I should have prepared more...' _I frowned, shaking my head as I avoided that line of thought.  
No use thinking about what I can't do anything about anymore.

"Is there anything more I can do?" Murata kindly asked, watching me as I gently (but tightly) wrapped Ozaki's arm with the splint and cloth.

"Not for now. Fortunately we have already provided the rest of the survivors some basic treatment before their injuries became worse."

Murata nodded, before staring at the sleeping or unconscious survivors, "Are they..." he cleared his throat, "I mean, are you sure they're not..."

"...dead?" I completed his sentence for him, "No. Not yet. Most of them are either unconscious or sleeping because of the pain-killing medicine I had injected them with."

"Why aren't you allowing Ozaki to sleep then...?" Murata asked curiously, as I was done with tending to her injuries.

I slightly tapped her cheeks again, making her open her eyes.

"She has suffered some severe head trauma." I declared as I slowly started packing the medicine boxes back into my satchel, "And even though sleeping is not exactly harmful after receiving a concussion, it is better to stay awake for a few hours if you cannot properly walk or talk after receiving one. Not only can she not perform such tasks, she also received a much severe head trauma than just a mild concussion. That's why I don't want to take chances with her and let her sleep."

"O-Oh... I didn't know you were a proper... doctor."

I smiled at him gently, replying with a softer tone, "I kind of am, you can say. Have been practicing for about four years."

"What's up with your blood, though...?"

"To be honest? I don't know either!" I lightly replied, taking out my bamboo bottle and taking a sip of water from it.

"Eh? What?"

"I'll admit, I don't know much about my blood either. The only thing I can tell you about it is that my blood turns corrosive in nature when it comes in contact with demon blood."

"C-Corrosive?"

"Yes, corrosive." I slowly got up, dusting all the soil my milky-white kimono had collected, "It melts the demon skin or blood whenever it comes in contact with them. That is why I sprayed it all over you people before I started treating you— as long as you have that liquid over you, no spider demon can climb over you or touch you."

_'If only I had remembered to sprinkle it over Tanjiro and Inosuke...'_

"You..." he looked at me skeptically, "You're not kidding, are you?"

"I'm not that mean, Murata-san." I off-handedly commented, before moving away from the 'cleansed area'. I had sprayed the blood solution on the ground, covering a large portion near a tree so that no spiders could crawl up on these survivors and also to provide them a basic protection from other demons on the mountain.

_'This is their Lakshmanrekha.' _I smiled wryly at my thought, before turning to Murata.

"Murata-san, I'm going to leave you now with the rest of the demon slayers."

His eyes widened at my statement, "Eh—?! Wait, why—" he almost desperately asked.

"Hey, hey, don't worry!" I tried to comfort him, "No demon can harm you here, I assure you. And I really need to leave now— I cannot just leave those two to fight alone with a _lower Demon Moon, _can I now?"

"But you'll die!" He exclaimed, "You're not even a demon slayer— you can't survive all this!"

I smiled wryly at him, slowly moving away and towards the forest as I said, "As if that ever stopped me before."

_'And as if I couldn't have been one if I wanted to.'_

Irony.  
My life as Miyasha was nothing but irony.

"Oh, and don't forget to keep waking Ozaki-san up! I left my satchel with you, so use the bandages and water from it, if you need any!"

* * *

I sprinted through the forest with as much speed as I could; the lack of haori on my body made it easier to catch speed, due to the lower resistance against the wind.

However...

_'Fuck, it's damn fucking cold!' _I cursed internally as I passed through several trees.

My haori served more than just the traditional form of clothing— not only was it made of a thick, durable cloth which kept my abnormally cold body warm, but was also baggy enough to let me hide my fans and their metal holsters attached on my biceps.

Now without it, I felt somewhat... naked.

_'Or at least, feeling as cold as I would've been if I was actually naked.' _I wryly thought as the moonlight shown down on me.

_'They are quite far away.' _I mused as I kept moving towards Inosuke and Tanjiro's aura, _'Even feeling their aura from here is quite a bit of a—' _A sudden sound of thunderclap and the sharp inflation of energy following it made me stop in my path.

_'Wait, wait, wait— what the __**hell **__was that?' _I frowned, closing my eyes to concentrate on feeling the auras near me, _'Was that... was that __**Zenitsu**__?' _I wondered as I looked up at the sky for any sign of clouds.  
There were none, of course.

_'Should I really...?' _I frowned, feeling indecisive all of a sudden, _'Zenitsu is quite far away though... almost in the opposite direction from where I am heading. While Tanjiro and Inosuke...' _

The thing was, even though Zenitsu may seem he needs my help more, it actually wasn't the case— he survived even without my presence, and he will still do so regardless of me going there. Yes, my medications just after the attack might make him recover quickly, but since Shinobu arrives there herself as well, I'm not taking the chance to be seen by her.

_'Not to mention that the father demon is a bigger threat at this point.'_

With that thought in mind, I started moving towards the general direction of Inosuke and Tanjiro again. I've wasted enough time already by standing here like an indecisive idiot.

.  
...

I was almost at my destination when I felt the demon's aura— it was even denser than what I felt a few minutes before.

_'Where is Tanjiro...?' _The fleeting thought crossed my mind before I noticed Inosuke's position.

"_**Inosuke!**_" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I noticed the several eyed father demon approaching him, _**"Move out of the way!**_"

I immediately jumped up on a tree, using it as my base as I used my full strength to spring up my legs against it.

Inosuke looked back at me before yelling, "I won't lose!" He prepared his stance as the demon approached, "I'm Hashibira Inosuke of the Demon Slayer Corps! Just bring it on, you dirt-bag!"

Just before I reached the demon, it slammed Inosuke with so much force that he went flying and crashing through several trees.

With even greater speed, it slammed me in the same direction as Inosuke; knocking out all the air inside my chest as I breathlessly slammed against several trees in the forest.

_'Fuck me.' _I cursed internally as I took a painful breath. I could easily taste the blood in my mouth as it had already started dripping from the corner of my mouth and the bloody battle hadn't even started.

Without wasting time, I stood up and sprinted towards Inosuke; I could clearly see him and the demon in my line of vision when Inosuke tried to attack the demon and—

_'I-It snapped?!' _My breath hitched painfully, as a sudden realization hit me as I saw Inosuke's swords snapping into pieces, _'I-I can't... I can't attack him with my fans—' _My eyes widened as I noticed the demon approach Inosuke again.

_'Do something, Miyasha! Do fucking something— or else Inosuke will be killed!'_

I increased my speed; pushing my legs to their extreme as I approached the demon, _'Even if his skin is indestructible, his mouth still shouldn't be. And I'll let that be my best bet.'_

"Don't come near my family..." the father demon grumbled in his coarse voice, "Stay aw—"

I jumped on the demon's hand, gliding my fans against his open mouth in a flash before dismounting simultaneously due to my speed.

The demon immediately dropped Inosuke from his crushing hold and turned to me. I moved away without a moment's hesitation, as it followed to attack me.

_'I do not have the strength to even try to cut his neck.' _I speculated, suddenly stopping in my path due to which the demon almost came crashing onto me, _'But I do have the speed to match and the agility to keep him busy.' _In a flash I stepped sideways, disabling it from catching me as I quickly moved away again.

_'He is a higher level demon.' _I deduced as I could hear it following me, _'That means the amount of blood I was able to inject through his mouth may not be enough. If only I had brought a flask—'_

Suddenly Inosuke joined the fight; with his iconic war cry, he pierced his broken swords into the demon's back— making his attention shift back to him. Seeing this golden opportunity, I rushed back towards them, intending to make a final blow and move Inosuke away as the demon perished.

But before I could do that, instead of attacking Inosuke, the demon simply splat him away and turned towards my approaching self.

Due to my high speed, I was unfortunately not able to change directions before the demon caught me into his huge hands, trying to crush my skull as soon as it got a good grip on me. I tried slashing him with my fans but any strength left in me drained rapidly as the pain from his crushing grip set in.

My vision blurred due to the immense pain and lack of oxygen, making me drop my fans a...nd...

The demon's harsh grip suddenly loosened on me, making me gulp in the much needed air before I fell on the ground. As my vision gradually cleared, I noticed the hand previously gripping my body lying beside me.

_'Wh-What happened...?' _I thought absent-mindedly as I turned to the side to notice someone standing there with their sword.

_'They... feel familiar.' _I thought fleetingly as I concentrated back on my breathing. This warm, wavy aura- I've felt this before. I know this person. _'But... where...?'_

The demon above me groaned painfully, before regenerating his hand back as he moved to attack the figure who severed his hands.

"Move ou—" I tried to yell out before coughing, my throat extremely soar after the whole ordeal.

The warm aura suddenly shifted, making me look up at their general direction. By now, my vision was clear enough to see again properly and what I saw took my breath away.

_'Tomioka...'_

His blue eyes met with mine, making a strange warm feeling spread throughout my whole body. Strangely enough, he didn't break the eye contact away— staring at me straight as he sheathed his sword after his quick attack on the demon.

_'He... he is the one who...?'_

He slowly approached me; I was only a few meters away from him since he had landed right in front of me after attacking the demon, making me fall directly under his line of sight.

"Fight me, Mismatched Haori!" Inosuke suddenly yelled, resulting in Tomioka to stop in his path as he looked back at the young slayer, "You beat that lower Demon Moon! And I'm gonna beat you; that's how I've drawn it up!"

I took that chance to drag my body up into a sitting position, despite all the pain it caused.

_'Jesus fucking Christ.' _I swore in my mind as concentrated on my breath and not on the pain— but Got fucking _dammit,_ it bloody _**hurt.**_

But the more important issue than the bloody pain was that I rapidly was losing blood— making my body temperature drop even further and mind dizzier.

After somehow making myself sit up, I quietly turned to the duo— noticing how Inosuke was fuming and yelling at Tomioka, while the said Hashira approached him calmly with a thick rope in his hands.

_'Where the hell did he get that...?' _I absent-mindedly wondered as I watched him quickly wrap Inosuke with the rope and hang him off of a tree branch with a strange precise and lightning fast speed that even made me jealous.

He then turned towards me, his eyes locking into my own once again as I was unable to look away from his ocean blue eyes.

_'Why... why was he following me? How much did he...'_

Tomioka kneeled down to my level once he reached me, finally moving his eyes away from me as he looked over my face and neck.

_'Is he... checking me for injuries?'_

"Can you talk?" He bluntly asked, his face just inches away from mine. My heart skipped a beat at his deep voice, making me feel even warmer than before.

_'What the hell is happening with me...'_

"...yes." I shortly answered, noticing his eyes widening as I did.

"Good." He stood up, instantly going back towards the forest as he continued, "Don't talk too much and stay where you are."

_'He's too... blunt.'_ I fleetingly thought as I noticed him move away, before Inosuke started screaming again.

"Wait! Come back here?!" He yelled loudly, "I can't hear you— you're speaking too softly!"

I huffed out in amusement, taking in a deep breath, "Stop screaming... Inosuke." I gruffly called out, trying to be as loud as I could, "It's... giving me a headache."

"Your voice turned weird." Inosuke commented, making me huff again.

"I... I know." I finally replied, closing my eyes in hopes to decrease my headache, "I know..."

_'Tomioka... Ironic how I never even wanted to meet a Hashira in all my life and yet I met one so many times during my so called 'missions' without even realizing.' _I huffed again, slowly descending down into the path of unconsciousness, _'My life... is too ironic.'_

* * *

Giyuu sprinted towards the demon, immediately severing its hand off from its body as he freed the woman it held in its grip.

_'That woman...' _He discreetly stared at her, noticing her breathing heavily.

The demon in front of him groaned painfully, before regenerating its hand back as it moved to attack Giyuu.

He slowly turned towards the approaching creature, "_Water Breathing, Fourth form..._" he jumped towards its figure, gliding his sword all across its body in a few graceful moves, _"Striking Tide!_"

He gracefully landed on his knee; almost directly in front of the violet-eyed female he had just saved. He felt her eyes on him; and sure enough, when he looked up, their eyes locked.

This was not the first time he saw her, and yet...

He sheathed his sword as he heard the demon fall behind him, _'I need to get back to the Demon Moon.' _He reminded himself absent-mindedly as he quickly moved towards the female.

Before he could approach her, the other male slayer started yelling for Giyuu to fight with him, making Giyuu annoyed at his interruption.

_'I don't have time for this...' _He scowled, before dismissing the strange boar-masked slayer.

Unfortunately, the slayer still kept yelling, giving him the feeling that he didn't realize the extent of his own injuries yet.

_'He'll jeopardize his own life if I didn't tie him up.' _He mused, as he took out the rope he had been carrying with himself in his haori.

As the boar-masked male fumed out an explanation for his misconception about the creature he just slayed, Giyuu moved to quickly tie him up against a tree branch. For extra measures, he tied him a few inches off the ground.

After leaving the male speechless with his speed, he proceeded towards the known yet unknown female.

She still stared at him intently— her violet eyes full of confusion and... familiarity?

He kneeled down to her level, finally breaking the eye contact to look at the injuries she received. Her face had a few scratches and blood dripped from the corner of her lips— but it was from her neck down that looked the worse. It was bruised to the extreme and was already turning an ugly shade of blackish-violet.

"Can you talk?" He asked bluntly.

"...yes." she gruffly answered, her voice somehow still sounding sweet even after being so strained.

_'Her injuries are not too severe then...' _He almost sighed in relief at that fact, before resorting to stand up instead. After all, he still needed to terminate the Demon Moon.

"Good." He stood up, instantly going back towards the forest as he softly advised, "Don't talk too much and stay where you are." He really hoped she followed his advice— she most likely sustained several severe injuries, making her in no condition even move around, let alone fight.

_'I have to quickly kill the Demon Moon.'_ He thought as he left her behind, _'I will come back for her once all this is over.'_

* * *

_**So here's the next chapter~ **__  
__**I know no one is gonna notice this but I'm uploading this a bit early since I'm gonna focus on the **__**next **__**two chapters of this arc, which are gonna be one of the most important chapters of this whole fanfic.**_

_**And since it is so **__**important, **__**I may or may not upload it a bit later than usual— no more than a week though, trust me.**_

_**Other than that, **__**I'll be very honest; I know this chapter may seem a bit **__**boring **__**but trust me when I say it's only going to get better from here! And it's not only because Giyuu is finally here xD**_

_**Also**__**— Lakshmanrekha is an Indian metaphor which is derived from the mythology of 'Ramayan'; it depicts the line (limit) which one should not cross or else they'll cause harm to themselves.**_

_**Now, here comes the review replies!**_

**natonatonii****: **_**I absolutely understand your pain with the school work, after all, I once had to do all that too xD And thank you for replying! Your reviews means a lot to me! :D And yes, their time at the Butterfly estate will be chaotic, to say the least xD I hope I write them well to your satisfaction! ^^**_

**Blue****: **_**I'll be very honest— your review actually got me a bit confused in the beginning xD But, I'm sorry to inform you this, that you are half wrong! Nowhere in the manga or the official fandom wiki is it mentioned that his "daughter" is not his biological child. So, in the end, her being his actual blood is canon until stated otherwise by the mangaka. He being a child on the other hand, was not on the "same time" as him playing as a father— it was about a good month or two (at least) after he left his "family". Though, I do agree with the part that he did all this to gain power and money so that he could access knowledge for the Blue Spider Lily he was so desperately trying to find. Anyway, thank you so much for your review! I really hope I didn't offended you by correcting you like this ^^;; I just wanted to clear your concepts.**_

_**Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	31. Chapter 29

**A/N: Long-ass chapter with several changes.**  
**And thanks to **_**Dark Princess Ayane**_** for her letting me use her fanfic idea in this chapter! (More details in the end)**

* * *

"Message! Message!"

Giyuu's heart skipped several beats at the sudden announcement, coupled with Shinobu's surprise attack at him which occurred almost at the same time.

"I have a message from headquarters!" The crow declared, circling the area just above their heads.

He still dared not look away; the blade at the base of Shinobu's shoe was just a few inches away from his face and even though she had stopped for now due to the crow coming in, he knew her better.

"Tanjiro, Nezuko and Miyasha are to be taken into custody and brought back to the headquarters!" The crow yelled, making him finally look towards the crow.

_'To the... headquarters?' _Shinobu's eyes widened; this was the first time something like this had ever happened.

"Tanjiro, Nezuko and Miyasha are to be taken into custody and brought back to the headquarters!" The crow repeated as finally Giyuu released Shinobu from his hold, "Tanjiro, dressed in a checkered haori, with a scar on his forehead! Nezuko, a demon girl with a bamboo muzzle! Miyasha, a civilian woman with white kimono!"

Shinobu immediately moved away from Giyuu, looking at him warily for a few seconds as the crow repeated his announcement to bring them back again and again.

_'Who is Miyasha, I wonder...' _Shinobu sheathed her sword, watching her fellow Hashira doing the same.

"Bring them back! Bring them back!" The crow yelled in the background as both the Hashiras started moving forward without any further exchange of words.

_'To the headquarters...' _Shinobu pondered on the crow's announcement, _'But why? Was Oyakata-sama aware of this...? And who is the third person_ _the Kasugai menti—'_ Shinobu's thoughts were interrupted suddenly when she noticed Giyuu deviating from the path.

"Ah, Tomioka-san," she sweetly started, her irritation with his earlier behaviour leaking through her voice, "The path to leave this mountain is in this direction."

Giyuu didn't answered her — as usual — making her even more annoyed by each passing minute.

"Where are you going, Tomioka-san? Trying to escape?" Shinobu asked directly, slowly following him through the forest as he walked through without giving her any proper answer.

_'What is he doing...'_

"Tomioka-san, if you don't come with me quietly, then I may have to restrain you." She warned seriously, almost going to reach out to him when he answered.

"To her."

"What?"

"She is injured." He softly started, still walking forward with his indifferent expression, "So, I'm going to retrieve her."

"Retrieve whom?" Shinobu asked in mild curiosity, trying her best to bury her growing irritation. Instead of answering, Giyuu merely glanced at her, making Shinobu even more irritated with his lack of answers.

But before she could demand anymore answers from him, they reached a clearing in the forest. It was very evident that the clearing in the forest wasn't a natural one- uprooted and broken trees littered the edge of the clearing and she could easily see a... person tied and hanging from a tree branch.

_'He... doesn't feels like a demon.' _She frowned, moving towards the hanging body before noticing that her apparent partner had shifted towards the other side.

"Where are you go—" Shinobu's eyes widened slightly when she noticed the other body.

_'Is she the third person the Kasugai was talking about?' _Shinobu wondered as Giyuu kneeled down beside the fallen girl with white kimono.

She moved towards her as well; silently watching as Giyuu covered the unconscious girl gently with a haori and cautiously gathered her body into his arms.

"Ara, ara, Tomioka-san," Shinobu started as she watched the male stand up with the injured female in his arms, "What are you doing? She's injured— let the Kakushis handle her."

Giyuu looked down at the unconscious body in his arms- she looked a lot smaller now, quite younger than before as well with her smooth expression. He adjusted her carefully in his grip, trying his best to make her head rest on his chest.

Shinobu noticed this, silently moving forward as she adjusted the unknown female's head over his chest and helped him reform his grip on her so that he won't injure her further.

"Who is she, Tomioka-san?" She soberly asked with an unreadable expression, "Why are you carrying her?"

"Oyakata-sama told me to look after her." Shinobu's head snapped at his answer, a lot of things suddenly making sense.

"Is she the one who was...?"

"Yes." Giyuu simply answered, looking down at the unconscious female again. Shinobu followed his gaze, seeing her in a new light this time.

_'That is why she is called to the headquarters...' _She finally deduced, her eyes softening as she noticed blood running down her lips, _'She doesn't look much older than me...'_

"Oh!" A sudden voice made them look back; two Kakushis had arrived the scene and upon noticing the Hashiras, they immediately bowed.

Shinobu waved their greeting away, as they finally got back to inspecting the male tied down from a branch.

"Is he a demon...?" One of the Kakushi wondered out loud.

"He is not." Giyuu replied, grabbing the Kakushi's attention, "He is wearing a mask."

"H-Hai, Hashira-sama!" The Kakushi replied as he and his partner instantly started untying the male slayer.

Giyuu said nothing further, moving back towards the direction they came from, now with the female in his arms. Shinobu quietly followed after him, only stopping once to turn back when she noticed the day break.

The first rays of sunlight made Shinobu's lips curve into a small smile; after such a horrific night, the coral shade of the sky made it almost seem heavenly.

* * *

Shinobu gently checked Miyasha's pulse, noticing how cold her hands were.

Her face twisted in a slight frown as she looked down at the unconscious female lying in front of her, _'She needs proper medical attention, but...' _She looked around herself, noticing again that any Hashira (aside from herself and Tomioka) were yet to arrive.

It was very early in the morning when the message came in— all the Hashiras were summoned early for their semi-annual pillar meeting, most likely because of the bizarre case of a slayer carrying a demon with himself onto his missions.

Unfortunately, since this woman — Miyasha was her name, wasn't it? — was also asked to be retrieved for the meeting, Shinobu couldn't treat or even look properly into her wounds.

_'Hopefully she can be treated soon...'_ Shinobu feared that the way she was losing blood, she may go into hypovolemic shock by the time the meeting even started.

She suspected for the girl to have at least a few broken ribs, if not several other broken bones. The blood on her kimono also suggested that she was wounded somewhere; alas, Shinobu could do nothing but tightly secure the blue stripped haori around her small figure.

_'She needs to be warm or else her body will go into shock even faster.' _Shinobu let out a silent sigh, slowly moving away from the young girl in front of her.

Now that she thought about it, Miyasha looked almost of her own age— maybe a bit taller, but almost her height nonetheless. Perhaps she could arrange some fresh kimonos for her; especially since her own was soaked in so much blood that the red overpowered the natural white of the kimono.

Her expression darkened again as she was reminded of her severe injuries.

"Shinobu-chan!" She heard her fellow female Hashira call her name, making her finally look away from the bleeding girl.

She noticed the two new arrivals approaching her— the Love Hashira, Kanaroji Mitsuri, casually jogging towards her while the Serpent Hashira, Iguro Obanai, cautiously staying back as he eyed the unknown female in the headquarters.

"Ohayo, Mitsuri-chan." Shinobu greeted politely, before smiling at the Serpent Hashira in the back, "Ohayo, Iguro-san."

"Ohayo, Shinobu-chan! Who is she?" Mitsuri asked as she approached near her fellow Hashira, noticing her kneeling beside an unconscious female, "Is she the demon slayer who...?"

"No," Shinobu denied, finally getting off the ground as she answered, "She is a civilian who was found injured during the mountain mission."

"Eh?" Mitsuri's light green eyes widened, "Is she alright?" She instantly asked, looking down at the young female lying on the ground.

"She i—"

"If she's injured," Obanai suddenly started, "What is she doing here?" He directly asked, his tone rather demanding as he eyed the unknown figure lying on the ground beside the female Hashiras.

"Oyakata-sama had sent a message for her retrieval." Shinobu answered honestly, focusing her attention onto adjusting the unconscious female's position against the edge of the porch, to which Mitsuri volunteered as she noticed Shinobu struggling.

"Then, why isn't she restrained?" Obanai demanded, strangely feeling that he was missing something. Somehow, somewhere, this woman didn't feel right and he just couldn't shake that feeling off.

"Because she is injured, Iguro-san." Shinobu replied as they were done readjusting her posture, "Not only that, but she is unconscious as well. That is why I denied the Kakushi restraining her."

Obanai, unfortunately, didn't look much convinced. However, he didn't comment any further as he climbed the tree to claim his favourite spot on the branch.

"I wonder why Oyakata-sama called her here..." Mitsuri mused out loud, staring directly at the unconscious female's face.

_'She's so adorable and beautiful!'_ Mitsuri thought with a slight blush, noticing the rather innocent looking face the female had.

"That's not the important question." Obanai started again as he glared at the figure standing away in his far right, "The main question here is what did Tomioka do?" He turned to Shinobu, his bi-coloured eyes boring into her violet ones, "Did he stopped you from killing that demon, Kocho?"

"Yes, he protected the demon, who is the sister of the demon slayer carrying her." Shinobu answered shortly, peering at Giyuu just as the other two Hashiras did, "Though, he refuses to answer any question regarding why he did so."

Obanai glared at the Water Hashira; but before he could say anything about him, the sound of approaching footsteps cut him off.

He shifted his glare off of Giyuu to the offending arrivers— noticing the Flame Hashira, Rengoku Kyojuro, approaching the yard with the Sound Hashira, Uzui Tengen, in his tow.

"Ohayo, minna-san!" Rengoku greeted everyone, before focusing his gaze on the unknown female just as the Sound Hashira beside him did, "Ah, is she the slayer carrying a demon with her?"

"No, she's not." Shinobu denied again, repeating the same thing she did to Obanai, "She's only a civilian who we found among the survivors of the last mission. Oyakata-sama had sent a message to retrieve her along with Tanjiro, the demon slayer who you are talking about, and Nezuko, the demon he was carrying."

"She's only a civilian? How disappointing..." Uzui commented, peering at the unconscious female in front of them, "But why is she here? Why do you think Oyakata-sama asked for her?"

"Oh! Maybe to recruit her as a demon slayer?!" Mitsuri exclaimed, shying away instantly when she noticed everyone staring at her.

"That might be so." Shinobu agreed as she turned to look back at the unconscious female, "Some of the survivors of the last mission mentioned a doctor treating them— many of them have severe injuries, and could've died if they hadn't been treated."

"You think she is the doctor?" Rengoku asked, his eyes shining in admiration at the deed this civilian female had possibly done.

"I do." Shinobu simply replied, "Although, I am not sure."

"If she saved those demon slayers as a civilian in the demon's nest, then she's very flamboyant!" Uzui exclaimed.

The corner of Shinobu's mouth twitched at the Sound Hashira's encouragement, before Obanai interjected with his perspective on the topic.

"Or maybe the quality of the demon slayers have dropped really low." He commented from his position on the branch, "There were many casualties in the mountain mission, weren't there? And it wasn't even an Upper demon moon."

Everyone agreed with his statement, though no one vocalized their agreement on it.

"Um," Mitsuri hesitantly started, looking away shyly as she grabbed everyone's attention, "Are we here to discuss the penalty for that slayer...?"

"It does seems so." Shinobu answered sweetly.

"Then, where is he?" Rengoku asked good-naturedly, his gold-red irises focusing on her.

"I believe that the Kakushis would bring him here in a few minutes." Shinobu replied.

"Eh?" Mitsuri tilted her head slightly, "He's not here yet?"

"No, he is being transported along with the other survivors of the mountain mission."

"Then, how is she here so..." Mitsuri looked back at the unconscious female, "...early?"

"Well, Tomioka-san carried her here." Shinobu answered sweetly, making everyone turn to the Water Hashira in surprise.

"_Tomioka _carried her?" Obanai asked in disbelief, his heterochromatic eyes narrowing in suspicion, "What relation do you have with her, Tomioka?"

Giyuu didn't even seem to hear his question.

As the Serpent Hashira's annoyance grew with the Water Hashira, others heard yet another pair of footsteps.

_'Hopefully this turns out well.' _Shinobu wished, as she saw the remaining two Hashiras entering the headquarters along with a Kakushi following them with Tanjiro on this back.

* * *

"Wake up." The Kakushi called, "Hey, I said wake up!" He discreetly peeked at the Hashiras near him before vigorously trying to wake Tanjiro up again, "Wake... Hey! Hey you! Wake up! C'mon! How long are you going to sleep?! Wake the hell up, will you?"

Slowly the young demon slayer came to his senses, his eyes opening wide as he noticed someone calling at him.

"Bummer~" a voice disappointingly started, "I heard he was a Demon slayer with a demon in tow... So, I was looking forward to seeing someone flamboyant, but that's one drab-looking dude, huh?"

"_Ume_! And now, we'll put this boy on trial!" Another voice echoed near him.

"Wh-Who are these peop—" Tanjiro started, though the Kakushi near him pushed his head back onto the ground.

"Don't open your mouth just yet, you moron! Just who do you think is standing before you?" The Kakushi reprimanded him somewhat loudly, "You're in the presence of the _Hashiras_!" He declared, confusing Tanjiro as he was not yet familiar with the term, yet alone the significance of it.

_'Who are these people exactly?' _He thought, his head and vision still muddled from just waking up, _'Where am I now?'_

"Before we start the trail," Shinobu started, Tanjiro immediately recognizing her as the lady from before, "Why don't you explain the crime you've comm—"

"There's no need for a trail!" Rengoku interjected, surprising Shinobu.

"Eh?"

"Protecting a demon is a clear violation of the code!" He declared confidently, "We're within our rights to deal with him on our own! We're about to behead him along with the demon!"

Uzui agreed, as he enthusiastically added, "In that case, I'll be glad to decapitate him flamboyantly. I'll show you the most flamboyant blood-spray you'll ever see. I'm talking about max flamboyance."

Mitsuri, however, looked conflicted over all this.

_'Ehh? You'd kill such an adorable child?'_ She thought with despair, _'That pains my heart! It fills me with anguish!'_

"Ah, what a pitiful sight this boy is." The Stone Hashira, Himejima Gyomei, said as tears streamed down his face, "The poor soul... I pity him for having been born at all."

However, the Mist Hashira, Tokito Muichiro, didn't seemed to be focused on the ongoing ordeal at all; instead, he stared at the clouds overhead.

Tanjiro's head slowly cleared as the memories of the previous night flooded in; his eyes widening as he remembered about his sister being attacked.

_'Where is Nezuko?' _He looked around in urgency, his mind racing with thoughts and worries about his sister and his friends.

"Hey you..." the Kakushi started, looking down at the fallen boy beside him, "The Hashiras are speaking. What are you looking at?"

"Hashira..."

"These are the nine highest-ranking swordsmen in the Demon Slayer Corps." The Kakushi finished, finally making Tanjiro realize the significance of the position.

"Let's put him out of his misery..." Himejima started, to which Uzui immediately replied, "Yeah! Let's do it flamboyantly!"

"Nezuko..." Tanjiro's mind was still stuck on one thing, "Nezuko, where are you?" He asked to no one, gradually dragging his upper body up into a sitting position.

"Nezuko!" He called out, his head spinning from him suddenly sitting up, "Miyasha-san! Zenitsu!" He turned his gaze around, trying to spot his companions in his immediate surroundings, "Inosuke! Murata-san—"

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he noticed Miyasha's figure lying there against the porch to his right, "Miyasha-san!" He called out her name again, his tone a strange mixture of relief and worry.

Though, before anyone could question him about it, Obanai's voice rang through the yard, "Forget that. What will we do with Tomioka?" He questioned, Tanjiro finally spotting the source of the voice sitting on top of a tree branch, "Seeing him there without any restraints is giving me a headache." He pointed at the man standing on the further right of the Hashiras, "Based on what Kochou told us, Tomioka's just as guilty of breaking the Corps rules."

Tanjiro's eyes drifted towards the direction the striped-haori man was pointing at, "How should we make him take responsibility? What kind of lesson should we teach him?" He asked rather eagerly, "Don't you have anything to say, Tomioka?" He questioned the Water Hashira, who didn't reacted either way.

_'No...' _Tanjiro thought guiltily as he looked at Giyuu, _'Because of me, Tomioka-san...'_ His eyes then shifted towards Miyasha, his heart clenching in guilt as he stared at her unconscious form, _'Even Miyasha-san...'_

Everyone turned to look at Giyuu, though, not really expecting much of a reply from him.

Mitsuri, however, admired Obanai's usual approach before turning to Giyuu and admiring him as well.

"Ah, where's the harm? He did come along without resisting." Shinobu amiably defended, "Let's come up with a penalty later."

"What I'm more interested in," she continued, "Is hearing this boy's story. The reason he's going on missions with a demon in tow despite being a Demon Slayer... I'd like to hear the explanation from the boy himself. Needless to say, what he's done is against the Demon Slayer Corps rules." She said, before turning to him, "You're aware of that, aren't you?"

Tanjiro looked at her with flickering gaze as she softly called out his name and asked his reasoning for the criminal conduct again.

Uzui gripped the hilt of his swords, "No need to ask."

"You can take your time." Shinobu ignored Uzui, "Just tell us why."

Tanjiro's heart was beating rapidly as he tried to speak— but he soon started coughing due to his throat feeling strangely dry.

Shinobu approached him as she retrieved her water bottle, "I do believe you need some water." She kindly offered him her bottle as she kneeled in front of him. Tanjiro instantly bit the mouth of the bottle and flipped it, gulping as much water as he could with his hands bound behind his back.

"You've injured your jaw, so please drink slowly." Shinobu advised, "It contains a painkiller; so, it will make you feel better."

Tanjiro gasped loudly once he was done drinking, drops of water could still be seen dripping down from his chin.

"The demon is my younger sister." Tanjiro announced sincerely, "While I was away, my family was attacked by a demon... and when I reached home, they were all dead!" He looked down at the ground, his eyes turning moist as he continued, "My sister turned into a demon, but she's never devoured anyone! She never has... and never will! She'll never hurt human, no matter what!" Tanjiro boldly declared, which somewhat agitated Obanai.

"Spare us your absurd ravings." He interjected, his eyes glinting down at Tanjiro, "If she's family, no wonder you are defending her. I can't trust a single word you are saying. I, for one, don't believe you."

"If her being his family is the issue," an unknown voice echoed, "Then, could _my _word count on the ground of me not being related to them?" Bluish-violet eyes greeted their sight as they turned to the source of the voice.

Miyasha smiled kindly at the attention she received, trying to keep her face devoid of any emotions she was actually feeling at that moment— because if anything she was feeling right now, it was that she _**shouldn't be here at all.**_

_'Where did I mess up?' _She ruminated, still keeping a general eye contact with the Hashiras standing in front of her, _'What should I now—'_

"Miyasha-san!" Tanjiro suddenly called out her name, his voice almost cracking at the end.

Miyasha turned towards the worried slayer, smiling softly in reassurance as she gave a slight nod towards him.

_'Don't worry, I'm fine._'

"And who are you?" Obanai's question snapped her attention back to the present. She tried to find the face to the voice and found the speaker sitting rather leisurely on a tree. She smiled softly at him, all the while thinking her answer through before she even opened her mouth.

Giyuu watched the whole scene by the corner of his eyes, avoiding to show any kind of interest in them— the other Hashiras were already suspicious of his relationship with them, and the last thing he wanted was to make it harder on them by showing interest in the overall situation.

"I am Sarota Miyasha, a... travelling doctor, if you may call me so." Miyasha introduced herself with a small smile, forcing herself to relax her posture, "Please forgive me for my earlier rudeness, Hashira-sama."

"You know we are Hashiras?" Shinobu asked, her dark violet eyes meeting Miyasha's slightly bluer ones.

"Ah, I do." Miyasha replied simply. When she didn't give any further information, Shinobu pressed her by asking her how she knew about them.

"I heard the term as I was waking up." She told the half-truth, "But I assure you, I did not receive any further knowledge other than that."

Miyasha then closed her eyes and took a deep breath; her heart was thundering in her chest and her head had a very sharp ache that she just couldn't ignore.

_'It's not the time for that.' _She reminded herself, opening her eyes immediately to avoid any suspicion building up against her, _'I can't lie to them— they'll know __**immediately **__if I did, with all their enhanced abilities and experience.' _She turned to look towards Tanjiro once more, checking him for bleeding or any physical injuries, _'The only way we can get out of it unharmed is by sticking to the plot or at least answering as honestly as I can.' _She looked away from him once she was sure he didn't had any severe injuries— the only ones visible were the cuts on his face.

Unfortunately, her presence here had already started altering many things.

"What did you mean by your first statement, Sarota-san?" Shinobu asked amiably, but Miyasha knew better. She was pushing her for answers, trying to decipher who she was.

"As I stated earlier, I'm a travelling doctor, Hashira-sama." Miyasha started lightly, keeping the smile on her face small and kind, "I came across Tanjiro-kun several weeks prior to his recent mission— when he was injured and had several broken bones. As a token of gratitude for him helping me, I had decided to travel along with him onto his missions until he fully recovered. During that period, I had come to the knowledge of him carrying a demon despite being a slayer of those creatures himself; but not even once did the demon attacked or hindered any human in her presence— even when I was treating some _in front _of her."

Her smile widened involuntarily as she added, "As a matter of fact, Nezuko-chan even went as far as protecting the human in her near vicinity— almost treating them like her family, if I were to speculate."

"Do you even know what demon slayers stand for?" Obanai spat out, his eyes narrowing at the only non-slayer in the yard, "Or even what a dem—"

"Please listen to us!" Tanjiro cut him off in desperation; he couldn't stand anyone insulting Miyasha because of him, "I became a swordsman so that Nezuko could be cured! It's been two years since Nezuko became a demon, and she hasn't devoured a single human in all that time!" He confessed, looking directly looking into Shinobu's eyes.

"Your story's spinning in the most drab way possible." Uzui stated, his eyes shifting from Tanjiro to Miyasha, "The fact the she hasn't eaten anyone does not means she won't from now on— her protecting a few humans won't account for if, or when she attacks one in hunger. Don't just give us your lip service— prove it to us with max flamboyance."

_'He didn't reject our claim of her not eating anyone...'_ Miyasha noticed as she caught the Sound Hashira's gaze, _'Is he considering our side...?'_

"Um," Mitsuri started, shifting her eyes away to the ground as she spoke, "I do have my doubts, you know. I just can't imagine Oyakata-sama being in the dark about this situation."

She raised her gaze up to notice everyone staring at her, "Do you really think it's okay to deal with this without his permission?" She asked to no one, staring right up ahead as everyone pondered on her very valid question, "Shouldn't we at least wait until he arrives?"

"My sister..." Tanjiro started, his voice getting louder with every word he spoke, "My sister will fight with me by my side! She can fight as a Demon Slayer to protect humans! So please..."

"Oi, oi," a deep voice interrupted, grabbing everyone's attention to himself, "I see you have some fun brewing here."

Giyuu stared at the new arrival by the corner of his eyes, not letting any emotion cross his face as he kept watching the whole situation play out.

"Is that the moron slayer who has a demon with him?" The Wind Hashira, Shinazugawa Sanemi, asked rhetorically as he held the wooden box in his left hand, "What the hell are you trying to pull here?"

Tanjiro's heart thundered in his chest as he noticed the box Nezuko was in; Miyasha as well was feeling something similar to Tanjiro as she watched the plot play before her.

"This won't do, Shinazugawa-sama!" A panicked Kakushi followed him, asking him to leave the box as politely as she could, "Please, would you mind putting down that box?"

Shinobu finally stood up from her kneeled position— her expression turning graver and she faced the Wind Hashira, "Shinazugawa-san, please don't act out of line." She subtly warned, hoping that he would understand.

_'Shinobu-chan looks pretty angry! That's so unusual!'_ Mitsuri thought, blushing slightly as she stared at the Insect Hashira's back, _'She's so cool!'_

"What did you say about that demon, kid?" Sanemi ignored Shinobu, focusing only on Tanjiro as he continued, "That she can fight as a Demon Slayer to protect humans? You know what we call that...?" He asked softly, while taking out his sword and yelling, "A total delusion, you moron!" He then proceeded to stab it through the wooden box without any hesitation.

Blood poured out of the other end of sword as it pierced through the box, in turn, piercing through Nezuko as well. Miyasha's heart stopped for a second as Tanjiro stood instantly and approached the Wind Hashira.

"Tanjiro—" she called out, but was ignored as Tanjiro yelled in anger.

"Anyone who hurts my sister..." he started, his blood boiling as he continued staring at the pierced box, "Hashira or not, I won't let you get away with it!"

"Tanjiro!" Miyasha called out again, "Calm down! Don't do anything rash—"

"Is that right?" Sanemi chuckled sarcastically as he drew his sword out of that box, flinging it through the air to get the blood off of it, "Good for you!"

"Stop it!" Giyuu finally interjected, his expression twisted with worry and anger, "Oyakata-sama will be arriving soon!" He declared, making Sanemi distracted just for a second as Tanjiro yelled and sprinted towards him.

Sanemi swung his sword at him at the last moment, but Tanjiro avoided it by jumping high up in the air, before bringing his head down on Sanemi— effectively slamming his forehead onto Sanemi's head, making blood pour out of the Hashira's nose.

Everyone stared as the two males who fell down after the ordeal; the whole thing happening so suddenly that it took everyone a few seconds to comprehend it.

Mitsuri let out a short laugh— immediately apologizing and covering her face when everyone turned to look at her in confusion.

Giyuu, however, was not amused— and neither was Miyasha, as she glared at the two slayers on the ground.

_'I can't do anything here though...' _She bitterly thought, _'This is the plot playing out... I can't change it... I __**shouldn't **__change it... But...'_

Tanjiro placed himself in front of the wooden box— clutching its straps in both his palms as Sanemi recovered from the blow Tanjiro dealt on his head.

"If you can't tell the difference between good demons and bad demons," Tanjiro snapped, "You should just quit being a Hashira!"

"You little..." Sanemi glared at the young slayer in front of him, "I'll destroy you!" He declared with a menacing smile as he picked up his sword.

_'No...'_ The dread in Miyasha's heart spread to her entire body as she watched the white-haired male ready to swing his sword down on Tanjiro, _'Absolutely not—'_

Shinobu's eyes widened as a blur passed by her— her eyes following Miyasha as she blocked Sanemi's swords with her closed fans and placed herself between the Wind Hashira and the bound slayer.

_'Such speed...' _was the first thought that crossed Shinobu's mind as she watched the bleeding woman push Sanemi back with all her strength and immediately kneel down in front of Tanjiro as she opened her fans defensively.

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he stared at Miyasha's back in front of him— the smell of blood from her was stronger than ever as she covered him protectively from the crazed Hashira.

_'Miyasha-san...'_ Tanjiro's eyes watered as the bittersweet smell of her love and protectiveness for him wafted to his nose, _'I'm sorry for dragging you into this...'_

Sanemi stared at the unfamiliar female in front of him, his mind baffled at her sudden appearance. Her fierce bluish-violet eyes met his own— and just for a moment, he was reminded of the wisteria growing along the garden near the headquarters. She completely covered the boy with her figure, holding what seemed like a fan made from _nichirin _blades in front of her in defense.

He even noticed her hands tremble slightly— which she did as well, immediately seizing it as she stared back at him with a strange fire in her wisteria-coloured eyes.

_'Who the hell is she?'_

"Please..." she softly requested, not moving her eyes away from his own, "Please refrain from injuring him any further, Hashira-sama."

She could _feel _everyone staring at her— but Miyasha couldn't care less. Tanjiro was her only priority at that moment, and she won't let anyone hurt him. No— not even on her _**dead body.**_

_'I can't risk it, God fucking dammit.' _She cursed as she aggressively stopped herself from her involuntary shivering, _'My being here has already changed things— I can't fucking risk it being any worse in any way possible.' _Not to mention that she didn't remember this scene being the part of the manga at all— what if her being here actually had made Sanemi behead him, if she hadn't stepped up in time?

Just as Miyasha suspected, almost everyone was staring at her in surprise— everyone except the Insect Hashira, who was staring directly at the Water Hashira in suspicion.

_'He knew she had weapons...'_ Shinobu concluded as she went through all that happened this morning— him covering her with a haori, carrying her to the headquarters and even going as far as gently laying her down on the ground when Shinobu asked to look at her once.

But the question was why did he do that— Shinobu didn't restrain her due to her injuries, and she accepted that as a blunder on her part to not check her even once for her weapons; but why didn't Giyuu said anything about it? Why was he going this far to protect her...?

Before anything further could happen, two girls with white hair came into the open room in the mansion and declared the arrival of 'Oyakata-sama', making everyone turn towards them.

Oyakata-sama slowly approached the yard from within the mansion, his footsteps so soft that it couldn't even be heard.

"So good of you to come..." he softly started as he became more and more visible, "...my beloved children."

Tanjiro suddenly felt someone gripping his right arm; as he looked up to who it was, he noticed bluish-violet eyes staring down at him with a strange seriousness.

"Wha—"

"Bow." She commanded, leaving no room for him to argue as she dragged him beside her. As he followed her direction, he noticed that every single one of the Hashiras were kneeling down on one knee and bowing in respect of the 'Oyakata-sama'.

His eyes shifted towards the female in his right, noticing how Miyasha bowed in a similar manner.

_'She noticed and adapted so quickly...' _Tanjiro thought as he shifted his attention towards the new arrival.

The girls quickly closed the doors just as the man in black kimono arrived and immediately moved to guide him to the porch by holding his hand.

"Ohayo, minna." He greeted everyone with his soothing voice, "The weather is amazing today. I wonder if the sky is blue." He wondered out loud, before moving his gaze around the yard, "It pleases me that we've made it to our semi-annual Hashira meeting with no personnel changes."

_'Wounded.' _Was the first thing that popped up in Tanjiro's head when he came face to face with the new arrival, _'No, is he sick? So, that man's the Master?'_ He wondered, as the Wind Hashira started speaking.

"I am pleased to see you in good health as well, Oyakata-sama." Sanemi said sincerely, "I fervently pray for your continued good fortune."

"Arigato, Sanemi." Oyakata-sama replied, a small smile playing on his lips as the two girls helped him sit down on the porch.

_'I wanted to say that...!'_ Mitsuri thought shyly, _'I wanted to offer my greetings to Oyakata-sama, too!'_

"If I may Oyakata-sama," Sanemi started, finally looking up to the older male sitting on the porch, "There is a slayer present in the Hashira meeting today by the name of Kamado Tanjiro, who has been travelling with a demon for past few missions. Would you allow me to explain the scenario?"

Tanjiro stared at the white-haired man in surprise— the way he behaved a few minutes ago and the way he behaved now were so drastically different that Tanjiro almost couldn't believe the formal yet polite words that came out of his mouth right now.

"I see." Oyakata-sama serenely started, "I apologize for startling you all. About Tanjiro and Nezuko... I've sanctioned their situation. So, I want everyone here to accept them." He declared, surprising every single demon slayer present there.

"Ah... even if it's what you desire, Oyakata-sama..." Himejima started, joining his hands once again and bringing it closer to his chest, "...I am reluctant to give consent."

Uzui pointed towards himself and declared his disagreement as well, "A demon slayer travelling with a demon is unacceptable— even if the demon hasn't devoured anyone, yet!"

Miyasha sighed at his statement; she didn't know why she expected anything different from him.

"I will abide with all your accordances, Oyakata-sama!" Mitsuri replied sweetly, while Tokito off-handedly replied, "Either way's fine with me... since I'm going to forget anyway."

"I don't trust them." Obanai blatantly declared, "We all hate demons to begin with."

"Although I respect you from deep within my heart," Rengoku's tone was honest and firm as he declared, "But that's an incomprehensible notion, Oyakata-sama! I completely oppose this!"

"The Demon Slayer Corps' mission is to annihilate demons. I request that you penalize both Kamado and Tomioka!" Sanemi made his opinion clear.

Miyasha silently observed as Giyuu and Shinobu refused to give their views— Giyuu's opinion was very obvious by then but Shinobu's...

_'She really wants to give them a chance, huh?' _She mused as she kept her head down and avoided any kind of attention on her for the while, _'Hopefully, it's not just because of her sister's views...'_

After a beat of silence, Oyakata-sama asked for a letter from the girl on his right.

The girl took out a letter from her floral printed haori and started reading an extract from it after announcing that the letter in her hand was written by the former Hashira, Urokodaki Sakonji. Tanjiro's eyes widened as he heard his teacher's name.

"Please allow Tanjiro to be accompanied by his sister, a demon." She read, her voice as clear as the sky above them, "Because of her resilient mental strength, Nezuko has not lost her human emotions. Even in a starved state, she never devoured a human and this has held true more than two years later. Although the situation seems somewhat far-fetched, it is an indisputable fact. In the event that Nezuko does assault a human, Kamado Tanjiro, as well as Urokodaki Sakonji and Tomioka Giyuu will atone by committing seppuku."

Tears dripped from Tanjiro's eyes as he stared at the stoic Water Hashira— his heart warming over once again as he realized that he wasn't standing alone in all this.

Even Shinobu looked at Giyuu in surprise, not believing how much he was putting on line for this boy and his sister.

"So, what if they commit seppuku?" Sanemi spat after a beat of silence, "If they want to die, then they can rot to death for all I care! It's no guarantee! Not by a long shot!"

"Shinazugawa is right!" Rengoku agreed, "If she kills and devours a human, there's no coming back from that! The people who got killed will never come back!"

"That is very true." Oyakata-sama agreed as well, "They can't guarantee or prove that she won't attack people, but you can't prove she'll attack someone either."

A wry smile appeared on Miyasha's face as she watched everything unravel— even if she didn't want to be involved in all this, she couldn't deny that she was enjoying watching this happen while being a spectator in the front row.

"The fact that Nezuko has refrained from devouring humans for more than two years and also that there are three people risking their lives for her; to reject this notion, those who reject it must offer an even more convincing argument." Oyakata-sama continued, "Do you all have the will to do so?"

Sanemi and Rengoku remained silent; they didn't had any convincing argument against that yet, but Sanemi refused to give up.

"Also, there's something I'd like to relay to you, my children." Oyakata-sama informed, "Tanjiro and Miyasha here, have met Kibutsuji."

Miyasha's heart dropped when she heard her name leave his lips— everyone's sudden attention on her and Tanjiro made her feel even more queasy than she was already feeling.

"That's impossible!" Uzui blurted out in disbelief, "We Hashiras have never even come into contact with him...! And these two...?!"

Everyone turned their gazes at the two of them— burning curiosity filled their eyes as questions came flooding out while Mitsuri fell down on the ground in surprise as she tried to turn to them.

"What did he look like? What about his powers?" Uzui enthusiastically asked, giving no time for them to reply, "Where did this take place?" He even stood up in excitement, standing just behind Rengoku as everyone leaned towards the pair with questions.

"Did you battle him?" Tokito asked as well, his tone rather innocent and curious.

Before anyone could ask anything further, Sanemi grabbed Miyasha's right arm — who was sitting just on his left — without a moment's notice and jerked her towards him as he demanded the answers to his own questions.

"What was Kibutsuji doing?" He asked viciously, his hold tightening even further as he gazed at her with a crazed look, "Did you find his strength-hold?" He directed his question to the bound slayer on her left.

"Shut up! I asked them fir—"

"—_**We didn't fight him!**_" Miyasha firmly stated, glaring at the Wind Hashira once she recovered from her surprise, "Do you really think that demon would even waste his energy fighting us— let alone, even using his _full powers _on us?!" She fiercely jerked her arm away from the scarred-man, feeling a bit light-headed as she continued glaring at him.

Oyakata-sama pressed a finger to his lips— effectively simmering down the excited Hashira's into silence. Everyone bowed their heads again; giving Miyasha and Tanjiro a break from the flood of questions.

Miyasha's frown loosened as the attention went away from her— her lips even twitched when she noticed Giyuu helping Mitsuri to sit back up.

"Kibutsuji had sent pursuers after Tanjiro." Oyakata-sama explained, "Though his purpose may simply be to silence him, now that Kibutsuji's given himself away for the first time, I don't want to let go."

"And this goes for Miyasha as well." Miyasha's heart skipped a beat when he said her name, "I believe coming across a _dokuchi _after so many years not only stands to be disadvantageous for him, but also unexpected, especially accounting for the unforeseen changes seen in Nezuko at the same time. Do you understand?"

_'What did he called me?' _Miyasha's mind raced with thoughts; her hands becoming even clammier and her head muddled as she her breath gradually shortened, _'Dokuchi? Poison blood? Does that means he knows about my bloo—'_

"No, I don't understand, Oyakata-sama." Sanemi growled, pulling Miyasha successfully out to the current situation, "We can let humans live, but not demons. I cannot give my consent! Not after all that we demon slayers have gone through in battle! Not after so many people have lost their lives!" Sanemi's body shook with anger as he relayed his next words, "It's unacceptable!"

_'He is not wrong...' _Miyasha mused as she gazed at the male in her right, feeling slightly calmer than before, _'But he's not right either... at least about this one.'_

Without a moment's notice, Sanemi took out his sword and sliced open his arm, making everyone's eyes widen at his sudden act.

"Oyakata-sama!" Sanemi called, rising his wounded arm up as he continued, "I will prove it to you myself— the sheer ugliness of a demon!"

"Sanemi..."

Sanemi stood up from his kneeling position— instantly pulling the wooden box lying in the back and stepping on it as he pushed it to the front in everyone's clear view.

"Hey, demon! It's time to eat!" He snarled, letting his blood drip off of his wound onto the box, "Sink your teeth in this!"

"Nezuko...!" Tanjiro watched in horror as the blood dripped on the box, causing Nezuko to make scratching sounds from within.

"No need to force yourself to hold back. Just show us your true colours and I'll obliterate you right here!"

"Shinazugawa," Obanai called him, "You can't do it in the sunlight. The demon won't come out unless you go to the shade."

"Oyakata-sama... Forgive me for my rudeness." He apologized before leaping into the house, effectively finding a shaded place for Nezuko to come out. He then proceeded to throw the box carelessly on the floor, immediately moving to stab his sword through it.

"**STOP IT!**" Tanjiro screamed, attempting to stand up before Miyasha held him back.

"Calm down, Tanjiro!" She almost hissed, her face twisted in an angry frown but he could still smell the worry from her, "Don't just jump into it like an idiot! You'll just get your sister and yourself in even more trouble if you do anything like that right now— if you trust her even a little bit, let her prove herself _without _any of your interference!"

Tanjiro reluctantly nodded, even though he disagreed with her— he knew what she said was right and that she would never want any harm upon them, but... He hesitantly looked ahead, watching silently as Sanemi finally opened the box, releasing Nezuko out of the box.

Everyone watched with rapt attention as Nezuko stood up from her box.

"Nezuko..."

"What's the matter, demon? Come on!" Sanemi taunted her, watching menacingly as saliva dripped from her muzzled mouth, "You know you want it."

Nezuko stared at the wounded hand in determination and self-control— but it wasn't the blood she was seeing.

_**'She's my sister!' **_Nezuko heard her brother exclaim in her memories as he cradled her in his arms protectively while the snow fell, _**'She's my younger sister! She's different! Though, I don't know how it happened!'**_

_'Younger... sister?'_

Nezuko could still remember her family so clearly; her sickly father sitting in the kitchen to give her cooking mother company, Shigeru playing with Takeo and Hanako as Rokuta tugged her kimono, asking to be carried—

And finally... Tanjiro-nii-chan...

_**Protect humans.**_

_'Humans are to be protected and saved. Never hurt them.' _Someone whispered to her, _'I... will __**never **__hurt them.'_

Tanjiro's resolve crumbled as he watched Nezuko's determined, but struggling expression. He started moving towards her again, but this time, it was the Serpent Hashira who stopped him.

In a blink of an eye, Obanai slammed down the bound slayer and pinned him under the pressure of his elbow, making the young bound slayer gasp painfully.

Miyasha moved forward to free Tanjiro from Obanai's grasp, but froze when she felt Nezuko's demonic aura inflate.

On pure instinct, she went to grab Obanai's haori— but he moved aside instantly, causing her to instead focus on Tanjiro and drag him away from his current position.

Within the next second, the wooden box Nezuko was in before, came flinging down on where they laid just a moment earlier.

Miyasha stared at the box for a solid two minutes while the others stared at a huffing and sweating Nezuko, who still looked very agitated.

"Nezuko..." Tanjiro softly whispered her name, noticing how she turned to him after glaring at Obanai.

Nezuko's shoulders sagged in relief as she stared at her brother, tears involuntarily leaking from her eyes from relief as she noticed her brother and Miyasha being relatively safe and unharmed.

"Nezuko...!" Tanjiro's yell and him moving off from her side finally made Miyasha come back to her senses, though her eyes still portrayed a huge amount of disbelief at the whole ordeal.

_'This... was definitely not in the plot...' _Miyasha thought as she watched Tanjiro sit at the edge of porch, trying to comfort his demon sister as she cried.

"No, Nezuko! Don't come out in the sunlight!" Tanjiro yelled as he noticed her moving towards him, "You'll get burned if you do! I'm fine, I'm fine..."

Sanemi looked at the pair of siblings with outmost surprise and confusion— not only did the demon girl ignore his _marechi _blood, but also proceeded to focus on her brother entirely instead of her own well-being.

"What just happened?" Oyakata-sama asked his two daughters once he heard the commotion die down.

"The demon girl threw her wooden box at Iguro-sama as she noticed him pinning her brother down painfully." One of the white-haired twin replied, while the other continued for her, "Although she'd been stabbed three times by Shinazugawa-sama and despite his flaunting of his bloody arm in her face, she restrained herself and did not bite. She turned to worry about her brother's well-being instead."

"So now, it's been proven that Nezuko won't attack human, right?" Oyakata-sama asked good-naturedly before turning towards where he heard the bound slayer at the edge of the porch, "Tanjiro, please forgive me for making your sister cry." Tanjiro blinked in surprise at the sudden apology, "Your sister has shown a huge amount of determination and restrain, but unfortunately there still may be some who can't accept Nezuko even after this. You must prove it to them now starting now, that you and Nezuko can fight as Demon Slayers. That you can be useful."

Tanjiro immediately moved backwards and bowed, feeling like... _like he was warm and floating._

"Go out, defeat a Twelve Demon Moon and you'll be accepted by all. It will give more weight to your words."

"I..." Tanjiro started in high spirits, "Nezuko and I will defeat Kibutsuji Muzan! Nezuko and I will do it for sure—"

Miyasha shook her head at his high goal, smiling softly at the lovingly-stupid boy.

_'You still need more training for that, doofus. At your current state, you are not even ready to face a Demon Moon on your own.'_ She thought, amused and slightly embarrassed for him as Oyakata-sama pointed the same thing out to Tanjiro.

Almost all the Hashiras either let out an amused grin or a short chuckle as Tanjiro tuned red at the realization.

"It goes without saying that the Hashiras of the Demon Slayer Corps have phenomenal skills." Oyakata-sama continued, "After training themselves to death, they have defeated the Twelve Demon Moon and have defied death itself."

"Yes!" Rengoku agreed, "That's a good attitude to have!"

"That is why Hashiras receive respect and preferential treatment. So, Tanjiro, mind your manners when you speak." Oyakata-sama concluded.

"H-Hai, Oyakata-sama."

"One more thing," Oyakata-sama started again, "Sanemi, Obanai— don't torment the younger ones too much." He amiably scolded, "And you shouldn't make a girl cry."

Miyasha instantly covered her mouth to avoid the laughter escape through her lips— Sanemi and Obanai's faces were comically red and she just couldn't help herself from having a laugh or two.

And the same went for the other Hashiras who almost had a same reaction as her.

"Right!" Rengoku agreed, a sly smile curving on his lips, "You should never make any girl cry!"

Shinobu genuinely let out a few laughs at that, amiably adding how one should be punished for this.

Miyasha shook her head at the bizarre ordeal, thinking how the plot came to this. Was it because she was here? Or was there some other reason?

_'How much am I really effecting the plot?'_

"Tanjiro, we have concluded our business with you." Oyakata-sama declared with an amiable smile, before vaguely turning towards his left hand side, "Miyasha?"

Miyasha's heart dropped when she heard her name leave his lips— the reality of her own position as well as her intrusion finally coming back to her.

"Welcome to the Demon Slayer Headquarters." He smiled at her warmly, "Although... it may have been a bit late for that. I hope you forgive me for not welcoming you earlier."

_'What the hell is happening here...?' _Miyasha silently stared at the older man, trying desperately to ignore the butterflies in her stomach,_ 'If there is anyone up there, please give me some strength to handle this.'_

* * *

_**Hey there, folks!**_

_**The 'Nezuko throwing the box on Obanai' idea came from the fanfic "**__**A Sister's love and care**__**" on by **__**Dark Princess Ayane**__**! Of course I have adapted it according to my own story but some of the elements remain the same! So, if ya wanna read the original version, go ahead and do so!**_

_**Also, please forgive me for the lateness of this chapter— I didn't expect it to take this long; or even **__**be **__**this long.**_

_**Though, hopefully you enjoyed it! I'll be updating the next chapter and the last part of this arc within the next two days; so, stay tuned!**_

_**Now, let's move onto the review replies!**_

**Einklley****:**_** Okay, okay, you actually gave me a very dope idea to solve this paradox of a relationship— and no, I ain't showing her to be a widow or something before she married Muzan. And that's cause of two reasons; the first one being that remarriages were not that common in that era in the whole of Asia, not just Japan and especially if we are talking about a widow with a child— she was instead expected to dedicated the rest of her life to her child and her husband's family and all that. And even if I account for the divorcee, that'll be even rarer since broken marriages are still condemned in Japan at this time; during that era it would have been a massive issue. Trust me, I had to do a whole lot of research on Japanese history because of this fanfic alone, lol. The second reason is that I don't wanna start that trap hole and neither would you like that, trust me. Remarriages were rare but did happen and even that was to unite two powerful families and stuff and that's a rabbit whole I ain't gonna jump in. Instead, I have an even better idea (thanks to you, dear!) but one thing I did wanna say— don't underestimate the extent that demon can go to find the blue spider lily :'V**_

**samuelpatricio96****: **_**Aww, thank you for the reassurance, dear! The thing is, I really wanna stay true to the manga**__**— at least as much as I can xD But I'll do remember it!**_

**Onigiriri****:**_** Thank you for supporting me here as well, dear! And I really hope you find this chapter exciting xD**_

_**And that's all for this chapter, folks!**__**Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	32. Chapter 30

_**A/N: Symptoms of blood loss include and are not limited to:** **dizziness, nausea, headache, fatigue, sweating, weak pulse, rapid breathing, confusion and weakness.**_

* * *

"Miyasha?"

My heart dropped when I heard Kagaya call my name. The dread growing in my chest spread through my whole body, making a chill go down my already cold limbs.

"Welcome to the Demon Slayer Headquarters." He welcomed me warmly, "Although... it may have been a bit late for that. I hope you forgive me for not welcoming you earlier."

_'What the hell is happening here...?'_ I wondered as I silently stared at him, trying desperately to ignore the light-headedness I was feeling, _'If there is anyone up there, please give me some strength to handle this.'_

"I offer you my warm greetings, Oyakata-sama." I started formally as I clenched my shivering hands, "Please forgive me for my rudeness, but if I may ask... for what purpose am I summoned here, Sire?"

I didn't dare to look up as I bowed deeply— I was not feeling well and everyone's unwavering gaze at me didn't help me feel any better either.

_'Calm down, Miyasha... You'll make through this— just bloody calm down.'_ I clenched my fists even tighter as another shiver went through my whole body; my temperature was rapidly decreasing and my somewhat repressed pain was slowly reappearing as the adrenalin slowly flushed out of my system, _'I need to get out of here soon if I wanna survive...'_

"Forgive me for asking for your presence here without any prior notice. As for the reason of your summoning," Kagaya used my own vocabulary back at me, "I wanted to express my gratitude for all the help you have provided to the Demon Slayer Corps even without being a direct part of it and wanted to offer you a chance to be a part of our Corps."

"I beg your pardon?" I blurted out without thinking— the queasy feeling in my stomach growing more and more by each passing moment, "I— what are... how do you even know about that?" I asked bluntly, before adding "If I may ask." just for the sake of politeness.

Kagaya's smile strangely turned softer, "I apologize for startling you, Miyasha." He apologized sincerely, "I have been aware of your activities, in terms of demon slaying, for quite some time now— although tracking you have always been a bit of an issue."

"However, in terms of your _dokuchi_ blood..." he continued, "It was your previous teacher, Shigeno Koji, who had written a letter to me four years ago. In that letter, he mentioned about the strange property of your blood and how you seemed to have been using it for demon slaying in your spare time. Hence, why I wanted to thank you for helping us."

"Blood...?" Shinobu questioned, her eyes meeting mine in confusion.

"My blood... is corrosive in nature." I blurted out, before shaking my head and explaining it properly, "I mean, my blood turns corrosive in nature when it comes in contact with demon blood or demon skin— melting it off as soon as it makes contact, producing a strange white flame as it does so."

"Wait, that's a thing too?!" Uzui asked, his voice dripping with disbelief.

"As far as I've seen, yes." I answered simply, trying my best to not focus on the sharp ache in my head, "I couldn't initially believe it either... That's why I experimented on it while hunting demons whenever I could..."

"You hunted demons?" Uzui popped up again, his gaze turning slightly accusatory as he stared at me, "So, you were the slayer who had been completing our mission before we even reached there?!" He pointed at me, though his tone was rather light and more... impressed? I don't know?

"I-I'm extremely sorry!" I immediately apologized, my eyes flickering in confusion and guilt, "I-I didn't know I was creating any inconvenience for you guys...!"

Uzui let out a laugh at that, countering with how he wasn't pissed and that it was actually very 'flamboyant'.

"That is not the question here," Obanai started, his dual-coloured eyes glaring at me, "The question here is why didn't you join the Demon Slayer Corps in the first place if you were so keen to hunt demons, anyway? You knew about us beforehand, didn't you?"

"I... did." I confessed, gulping heavily as my muddled mind brought back images from my past that I didn't wanted to dwell on—

"Because I can't save everyone." I answered honestly, my heart beating faster as I bowed my head back to avoid showing my face, "I... I was only terminating demons to experiment the extent of damage my blood could do. That's all."

"Miyasha-san..." Tanjiro calling my name softly made me feel worse— I didn't want to be here; I _shouldn't_ be here.

"Was that why you went on the Natagumo Mountain with Tanjiro-kun?" Shinobu asked after a beat of silence, her voice a little too sweet for my ears.

"No." I simply answered, not willing to explain any further than that.

"Then, why—"

"—I was there because I felt there were people needed my help." I stated firmly, making a few things clear just in case, "I had the full knowledge of what I was getting into and no, Tanjiro did not approve of me going. It was my decision alone."

"You _felt _them...?" Rengoku asked skeptically.

"I... can feel the auras of people around me." I sighed, "Their power, vaguely their emotions and sometimes even their physical condition."

"You were the one who treated the survivors under the tree?" Shinobu asked tentatively, to which I nodded my head in affirmation, "I found some... red liquid spread on the ground near them— was that your blood?"

"Yes." I affirmed again, still feeling gazes on me filled with suspicion.

"And the ones in the medicine...? Was the red paste made of your blood too?"

"A part of it, but yes." I confessed, "My blood is corrosive for demons, but apparently has a strange medicinal property for humans— mostly helping in clotting blood and in healing faster, although I'm not completely sure about the latter part."

"You use your blood for medicinal purposes?" Oyakata-sama asked with mild curiosity.

"Yes." I answered, "I... mostly work as a travelling doctor. So, I had used my blood in various medicinal purposes, trying to decipher its effects on different life forms and overall properties since I was not aware of anything about it."

I finally looked up, my face twisting into a slight frown as I continued, "Oyakata-sama, you seemed to be familiar with my type of blood... So, if I may be allowed to ask, can you... how much do you know about it, Sire?" I hesitantly asked, hearing my heartbeat loud in my ears.

"Not much I'm afraid." He honestly answered, making me visibly deflate, "Though, I remember reading about them from a book passed down to me by my father."

My heart skipped a beat at his last statement— though, all my hopes came crashing down when the reality kicked in.

"I would have to join the demon slayers for it, wouldn't I?" I said it out loud, almost regretting it instantly when I felt a few glares fix on me.

"Of course not." Kagaya simply smiled at me as I snapped my head back to stare at him.

_'What is this man up to...?'_

"I would not force you to be a slayer, if you don't want to." He clarified, still giving me his serene smile, "However, I sincerely wanted to know the reason behind your declination, Miyasha."

"I don't like killing things." I started, closing my eyes as the warm sunlight fell on my body, "I mean, since I was a child, I've always been told that killing any kind of life form, unless absolutely necessary, is bad— a sin, if you wanna call it that. That was why I never even liked hitting people but... it all changed when the existence of demons came into my knowledge. Demons... they are not much different than humans... they are unfortu—"

"_Demons are not different than humans?_" Sanemi growled, his eyes glaring holes at me, "Do you even know what you are saying."

"I do." I boldly replied, "I know exactly what I'm saying, Hashira-sama."

"Then explain." He ordered, his eyes furious pale purple eyes meeting into mine.

"Explain what, Hashira-sama?" I taunted, feeling my own anger grow, "That why demons aren't much different than humans? Do you really think demons are the only ones who kill humans? Or eat humans?" I challenged, trying my best to not increase my volume, "Are you aware of the heinous crimes humans do, Hashira-sama? Demons mostly kill us for food — maybe even protection and fun — but humans? They kill for pleasure, power, money, fun; not to mention the other despicable crimes such as slavery, rape, torture— all these things that they pull out on their own _species, _and sometimes their own _**kin**__._"

"_Humans_," I spat, "Are no better than demons. Demons are only the more primal and savage part— the part that humans hide in the dark corners, that's it." I breathed heavily after the rant, feeling the growing irritation in me simmer down slowly.

"So what?" Obanai asked, "We shouldn't kill demons anymore? Let them run rampage?"

"Of course not." I took a deep breath as I rubbed my cold hands on my forehead, "I'm not saying to not kill them, but just... don't treat them like filth. Many of those demons you fight don't even remember their human life— and most of them never consented to be a demon. They were forced to be so. What I mean to say is that they are not the filth you think them to be, but rather are untold tragedies. Most of us definitely have gone through a stage in our lives where we were just... one step away from being like them."

"That is very true." Kagaya agreed, "I apologize for this bringing up, Miyasha." He apologized sincerely in his serene tone, "My intention was not to offend you but to only understand your reasons, for I myself consider that you would make a good demon slayer."

"I... I'm afraid I have to disagree." I honestly answered, though Kagaya seemed to have some other plans.

"Is it so?" He asked off-handedly, smiling as he continued, "Wouldn't being a demon slayer aid in your goals? You could experiment on the demon with your blood, along with your own set of ideals which we would not force you to change."

"I-It's not just about that..." I weakly started, though I didn't continue because what could I say? That I don't wanna join cause I'll change the plot?

"...If it is because you fear that you can't 'save everyone', then the Kakushi will handle that part." Shinobu gently relayed, her violet eyes staring softly at me, "You won't have to carry the guilt of it with you."

_'What should I do...?' _I thought for what felt like the millionth time that morning, _'Should I decline? Would they let me go if I do? Would I... would I be able to meet Nezuko and the boys again if I declined?'_

My heart thundered as my mind raced with all the unanswered questions— especially with the last one.

_'I...' _I stared at Tanjiro who was still sitting near the edge of the porch, staring back at me with an unreadable expression, _'Do I really wanna leave him?'_

I shook my head at the last thought, _'Who the fuck am I kidding? I'm too deep in all this shit to not care about it now.'_

"I don't wanna leave." I absent-mindedly blurted out, making everyone around confused, "I... Can I ask a few things for you in exchange for being one? I mean, demon slayer?"

Kagaya seemed a bit surprised at my question; although he recovered and agreed to it pretty quickly.

"I..." I frowned, listing the things that maybe I could use to my advantage— if I indeed was jumping into the plot, I ain't gonna leave anything, "I wanted to keep three, um, conditions if you wanna call them, to join the Demon Slayer Corps... if you don't mind. They... won't be much, and would rather be a request... if you don't mind?"

Kagaya simply smiled, "I don't have any issues. Please continue."

"Um, firstly... can you please tell me more about my blood type— _dokuchi _as you called it, right? Anything that you have or anything that you've heard, please."

"I will. Please continue."

"Secondly..." I gulped once, still contemplating if I should— _oh, fuck it_, "I'm not strong enough." I blurted out, "I can't behead demons most of the time— or at least not without swords or considerable amount of my strength. That's why I mostly use my blood to just corrode them instead. I just... I just wanna request that if I die on the battlefield, please just retrieve my body and drain all my blood off of it to use it as per your need— I don't want it to be wasted or the demons to be somehow used to it or something."

"That's very noble of you, Miyasha." Kagaya declared after a beat of silence, the smile on his face looking wider than ever, "Shinobu and the Kakushi will look after that."

"And um," I stumbled upon my words, my mind too much muddled to focus on even one thing, "Thirdly, I... I wanted to offer my name as... um, what I mean is that I as well declare that if Nezuko ever harms a human, I'll commit... _seppuku _to atone for such... crime..."

I took in a deep breath to calm myself down, though it was turning harder and harder with every second— my body was too cold and the nausea was too...

_'I've lost too much blood...' _I realized as my body slowly started giving up. I could hear Kagaya saying something to me in the background but I couldn't understand him.

My head was aching so much and I just wanted some rest...

* * *

Sanemi's eyes widened as he noticed the woman beside him slowly sway towards him before falling to his side completely.

He immediately caught her body in his arms, his eyes widening as he felt the dampness of the dark blue haori around her body.

_'Is it... blood?' _He frowned as his suspicions were proven right as he noticed the scarlet liquid on her kimono and some places on her haori.

By the time he gently turned her, Shinobu was already at his side— checking her pulse as the other younger slayer, Tanjiro, kept calling her name softly in worry.

"She's alive," Shinobu declared in a very grave tone, "But not for long, I'm afraid. Her pulse is very weak— we need to take her to the Butterfly Estate right now!"

"Oyakata-sama," Tomioka started, startling the other Hashiras around him, "If I have your permission, may I take her to the Butterfly Estate?"

"Please do." Oyakata-sama replied instantly, making him move towards the girl in Sanemi's arms with an urgency in his steps.

Sanemi watched silently as Tomioka gently took the girl from his arms— she looked so... _fragile _as compared to before when she was protecting that burgundy-haired slayer.

Once the girl was secure in his arms, Tomioka disappeared; his high speed not coming off as much of a surprise to the Hashiras— though it was him helping Miyasha, on his own accord, was what surprised them the most.

* * *

Giyuu knocked on the doors of the Butterfly Estate, before entering it without any hesitation— the life of the bleeding girl in his arms mattered more than his lack of mannerism.

He instantly entered the estate, moving inside with ease as he was familiar with the structure just as the other Hashiras.

He frowned, _'Where are the Kakushi?' _He thought irritatingly as he kept moving through each of the rooms, _'Should I call them inste—'_

"Eh?!" His eyes fell on a blue-eyed girl in front of him, "Hashira-sama...?"

"She's bleeding." He looked down at Miyasha in his arms, "Shinobu sent me here."

"O-Oh." She immediately started walking towards another room, "Please follow me here and place her on the bed." She directed, before opening a room and showing him the bed she was talking about, "I'll call the doctor immediately and get her patched up. Thank you for your help, Hashira-sama."

Giyuu paid the new girl no mind as he gently placed her on the white sheets of the fresh bed, noticing his hands coated in her blood; even his haori had slight traces of blood which he got while carrying her here.

He turned around once, noticing no one in the room except him— the girl most probably went to find the doctor she was talking about.

He turned towards Miyasha again, gently brushing her hair off of her sticky forehead— her body was cold, making his heart skip a beat in worry.

_'She'll be fine.' _He assured himself, _'Shinobu will treat her.' _He moved out of the room, assuring himself again and again.

With that, he made his way back towards the headquarters; although his speed significantly slower than before.

* * *

In a dimly lit room, the Hashira meeting resumed— most of it revolving around the integrity and quality of the recently recruited members of the Demon Slayer Corps.

"Just as you've all reported, the demons' carnage has increased more than ever. Meaning that the threat to human life is greater than it's ever been. We'll have to bolster the ranks of the demon slayers." Oyakata-sama relayed.

"The incident on mount Natagumo made it crystal clear." Sanemi agreed, "The caliber of the slayers have nose-dived to unbelievable levels. Most of them are useless. The trainers must be blind; you'd think they could at least felt if someone's competent or not."

"Well, that kid today sure seemed competent." Uzui commented, smiling mischievously as he added, "He did land that flamboyant blow on you, Shinazugawa. He's got potential. In fact, that girl too— the speed with which she blocked you was impressive!"

Sanemi silently looked away, refusing to comment on that topic.

"The more the human population increases, the harder it becomes to control and unify them." Shinobu commented, "Not to mention that the times have changed considerably in this era."

"Other than that," Himejima added, "Those who've had their loved ones brutally massacred, or those of distinguished pedigree who have hunted demons for generations are the only ones joining the Corps. To ask anyone to harness as much or even greater resolve and drive to produce results as them would be cruel."

Rengoku agreed, adding his own comment, "Still, considering that those two ran into Kibutsuji and a Demon Moon so soon after joining the Corps... They may have the power to draw them! Even we Hashiras rarely get the chance to confront one! It makes me envious!"

"Agreed." Oyakata-sama replied, "But the fact that Lower Five made such a drastic move probably means that Kibutsuji is nowhere near mount Natagumo. After all, in the case of Asakusa, whenever he wishes to hide something, he creates a clever diversion to throw us off. It's quite frustrating."

"It's quite surprising how Sarota-san actually stopped the Demon transformation." Shinobu admitted, "With her blood, we may be able to create a poison that could kill even the Demon Moons."

"I'll leave that all to you then, Shinobu." Oyakata-sama smiled, "I believe that among you Hashiras, I've assembled the finest unit since the First Breathing swordsmen of the feudal era." He declared proudly, "And today, among you nine, I want to introduce two more to your rank and comrade."

The Hashiras blinked in surprise, before Shinobu's eyes widened in surprise, "Oyakata-sama, are you talking about Kinomiya-san?"

Oyakata-sama smiled widely, confirming her intuition, "Yes, Shinobu" He replied, "Due to unfortunate circumstance, they couldn't be present for the meeting today. However, they would be present for the next meeting regarding Kibutsuji." He relayed, smiling serenely just as he always did.

* * *

_"Di...! Stop disturbing me!" A girl with dark brown hair giggled, "You know I can't play the game like this!"_

_"Why? What's the big deal?" Was that my voice? It sounded much... deeper._

_"You laying on my stomach distracts me! Move aside! Move~!" She poked me in my ribs, making me laugh._

_"Stop it! Stop, stop, sto—" the younger girl tickled me till I fell down the bed, her milk brown eyes widening in horror as she yelled in surprise before apologizing._

_"I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry...!" She apologized as she helped me get up from the ground, her tan hands reaching out and pulling my own darker ones, "Are you hurt? I'm so sorry for that! I didn't mean to—"_

_"I am not! Don't worry, dear." My unfamiliar yet so familiar hand reached out to ruffle her puffed up hair, "I know you'll never hurt me intentionally."_

_"Hey! Don't touch my hair!" She pouted, before leaping into my arms and nuzzling me as I laughed and hugged _he_r back._

_**'Why couldn't this last forever?'**_

.

My eyes snapped open— the bright light coming into the room immediately made me squint my eyes.

I took a shuddering breath, covering my eyes with my forearm as I laid back on the bed; my body shivered from an unknown source of cold, the sweet dream still lingering in my memories.

_'How is she?' _My mind wandered back to her, _'Is she fine? Is mum fine? Are they... are they even alive? Did they... did they grieve for me?'_

I sighed and got up, rubbing the tears off of my cheeks. I didn't know— I _couldn't _know about it anymore.

I couldn't go home.  
I don't have a family anymore—

"Miyasha-san...?" Tanjiro's voice interrupted my thoughts as I snapped my head up to look at him— he seemed to have just arrived, still standing at the entrance of the room, "Miyasha-san! You're fine!" He yelled, moving towards me without any hesitation.

To my surprise, he came in and hugged me; his warm hug making my heart skip painfully.

"You're fine..." he said softly, his voice cracking as he continued, "I-I... I thought you... I'm so sorry for dragging you into this, Aneki!"

"Shh..." I slowly caressed the back of his head, my eyes tearing up as he kept apologizing, "Ta—"

"Tanjiro?" Zenitsu's eyes widened as he entered and noticed me awake, "Miyasha-san!" He immediately moved towards the opposite side of the bed and joined the hug; his small hands hugging my waist, "Miyasha-san!" He wailed as he hugged me too.

I gave a watery laugh, caressing the top of the heads of both the idiots.

_'How could I ever leave these idiots?'_

"I'm fine... don't worry..." Tears flowed down my eyes as a hugged them; watery laughter escaping through my lips as they fussed over me crying, "No, I'm not sad... I'm just... glad..." I looked at their faces, softly patting the two of them as another tear flowed down my eyes, "I'm so glad you both are fine... thank you so much for being here with me..."

Zenitsu cried and jumped in to hug my waist again, wailing loudly about what he went through in the forest. I softly caressed his head, smiling in melancholy all the while as Tanjiro offered me a cloth to wipe of my tears.

_'Thank you so much.' _I thought gratefully, my voice failing to show my true emotions to them.

* * *

**(~End of Natagumo Mountain Arc~)**

* * *

_**Hey there!**__  
__**Short chapter— I know, but this holds a lot of significance, trust me.**_

_**Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay! It took me way more time to actually refine the conversation, so I hope you like it!**_

_**Anyway, let's move onto the review replies!**_

**Guest****:**_** Hey there! I'm really you liked the fanfic! Thank your giving this story a chance! ^^ You stay safe and healthy too, my friend!**_

**TheBlueAmethyst****:**_** Honestly speaking, I didn't actually wanted to write from an **__**Omniscient perspective**__**— especially since it was a very jarring (and draining) experience for me too! But since the anime episode itself had such a structure, I really couldn't avoid it without excluding some much needed parts in the whole thing! Nonetheless, I am really sorry for all the sudden information dump on you! And for now, I'll avoid commenting on your theories— mostly because you are just hitting so close to the truth that it actually makes me feel exposed xD Anyway! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter and the twist I brought with it~ Looking forward to your review!**_

_**And that's all for this chapter, folks! **__**Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	33. I don't like this

**!Highschool Omake!**

**I don't like this.**

* * *

"Tomioka, my man!" Rengoku slapped his fellow teacher's back, noticing he was lost in his own thoughts which was a pretty strange occurrence for the said man, "How are you, nowadays? We don't even see you in during the lunch anymore! Where have you been?"

Giyuu looked back at the hand on his shoulder, before looking up at the man the hand belonged to— he was never really comfortable with physical touch, but Rengoku didn't seemed to have any ill-intent, so he didn't commented on it.

"I have lunch in the counsellor's office now." He answered honestly, making Rengoku shocked.

"Counsellor's office?" He blurted out in surprise, "Are you okay, Tomioka? Do you want to talk about it?"

Giyuu looked strangely at him for a few seconds before realizing how his words may have sounded to the blond man in front of him.

"Yes, I'm fine." He immediately reassured, "Miyasha keeps on insisting me to have lunch with her, that is why I eat in the counsellor's office."

Rengoku blinked a few times— Giyuu being on a first name basis with the counsellor came off as a rather big surprise to him.

"Sarota-san asks for you there?" He asked out loud.

Giyuu nodded, almost absent-mindedly replying, "She wanted to make sure I eat well. She thinks my irritation with the students comes from me not leading a healthy lifestyle." He half-heartedly complained, almost whining as he packed his bag.

Though, Rengoku's sudden fit of laughter made his attention snap back to the History teacher.

Rengoku, meanwhile, was too busy laughing as he imagined the five feet something woman dragging Giyuu off to her office and watching over him as he ate. The imagery was too funny for him and he honestly couldn't stop laughing.

"I-I'm sorry for l-laughing like that." Rengoku apologized once he calmed down, though the smile on his face was even wider than before.

Giyuu paid him no mind, instead focusing back on packing his stuff into his bag. The school was already over and he wanted to reach home before the Sun went down the horizon.

"Say, Tomioka—" Rengoku started as he noticed the raven haired man starting to leave, "Would you like to have lunch with us tomorrow?" He kindly offered, smiling brightly as the rays of the setting Sun bounced off the red tips of his hair.

"...No." Giyuu declined bluntly, making him blink in surprise, "Miyasha won't let me." He reasoned before leaving the teacher's room.

Rengoku frowned at his answer— he thought Giyuu would finally agree to have lunch with them seeing how he finally started opening up to people.

_'Is he uncomfortable with us?' _Rengoku wondered, thinking about Giyuu's relationship with their fellow teachers. Uzui seemed pretty chill with the stoic teacher, and even Shinazugawa didn't seemed to mind him— then where was be the issue?

_'Or maybe Sarota-san really wouldn't let him have lunch with us.' _He mused as he himself exited the school, _'Maybe she is really worried about his eating habits...'_

"Oi, Kyojuro! Can you walk a bit faster?" Uzui called out, waiting at the gate of the school for the History teacher, "The Sun will be down in an hour! Makio will kill me if I come home late today."

Rengoku laughed at his colleague's dilemma, almost wishing to be married himself too, "She won't! Don't worry!"

"Man, you're lucky you're not married yet." The art teacher blew off as they started walking towards the train station.

"Is it so?" Rengoku asked teasingly, his mind still stuck on his previous conversation with the gym teacher.

"Yeah." Uzui replied before noticing the look on his fellow teacher's face, "What's on your mind, Kyojuro?"

"Ah, nothing."

"Nothing's something too, pal. Open up— is it a girl problem?"

"No, no, no!" Rengoku instantly denied, "I was just wondering about Tomioka, that's all."

"Tomioka? Did he beat someone up again? I thought Miyasha was keeping him in line."

"No, he didn't—" Rengoku's head snapped towards his friend in surprise, "Wait, you call Sarota-san by her first name too?"

"Yeah?" Uzui looked at the shorter man beside him, "Of course I do, she asked me herself to not call her by her last name— apparently it feels strange to her 'cause in most of the countries outside Japan, it's more common to use someone's first name instead."

"Oh..."

"She didn't say that to you?"

"I didn't get the chance to talk to her much." He answered honestly, noticing the train station slowly coming into their view, "She is almost always in the counsellor's office or the nurse's office near that, so, I never see her around either..."

Uzui stared discreetly at the History teacher walking beside him, wondering if he's actually interested in—

"Anyway!" Rengoku started again, "I actually invited Tomioka in for lunch tomorrow but he declined—"

"—Again?" Uzui interrupted, "He declined several times before; what's the use asking him again, anyway? It's not like he's interested in building any kind of friendship here."

"That's ridiculous!" Rengoku exclaimed, "I still think Tomioka just feels uncomfortable!"

"Uncomfortable with everyone in the academy?" He taunted, entering the train station with Rengoku.

"Of course not!" Rengoku answered genuinely, taking the taunt at its face value, "He seems to be comfortable with Sarota-san!"

"What?" Uzui almost stopped walking at the news, looking strangely at his friend.

"Yes! He is recently having his lunch in the counsellor's office with Sarota-san! He said she watches over his eating habits."

Uzui stared at his blond friend, noticing how completely serious he is.

"I... Tomioka? With the counsellor?" He asked again, "Miyasha sure is one hell of a woman to get that man to even _listen_ to her, let alone eat with her daily— oh wait, or maybe..."

"Hm?" Rengoku turned to his silver-haired friend, "Or maybe what?"

Uzui shook his head, dismissing that line of thought.

"Nah, it's nothing." He replied nonchalantly, "It sure was her persuasion..."

_'At least it seems more practical than the other probability.'_

Suddenly an idea sparked up in the silver-haired man's head, making a mischievous smile curve on his lips.

"Hey, Kyojuro?"

"Hm?"

"Would you like to pay a visit to Miyasha tomorrow?"

* * *

"Oh, hello Tomioka-senpai!" Miyasha greeted the stoic gym teacher as she entered her office, "What have you brought today? Hopefully not Salmon and radish again— eating the same dish for almost every meal is very unhealthy!" She lightly scolded as she sat down on her seat and immediately retrieving her own lunch box from her bag.

Giyuu, as usual, didn't reply to her— instead, opening his bento to show that he brought fried rice instead.

"Ooh, that looks delicious!" She complimented as she opened her own box, "Who made it?! Your sister again?"

"Yes." He simply replied, noticing the contents of her box, "What is that?"

"Double cheese sandwiches!" Miyasha proudly declared, "I found this recipe online a few days ago and it was simply _amazing!_ Here, try this!" She handed him a half of her sandwich, making him owlishly blink at it, "Come on, take it! I have brought four with me— and that's about eight pairs of this cheesy goodness! So, don't worry!"

Giyuu hesitantly accepted the cheesy treat, slowly taking a bite as Miyasha stared at him hopefully. He froze when he tasted it— and goddamnit, it was _so good._

He nodded at her hopeful face, taking another bite off of the mouth-melting cheesy toast, enjoying it to the fullest.

"I told you it was delicious!" She exclaimed happily, finally taking a bite herself, "This is too good~" she happily sighed, before grinning at the staring gym teacher.

Giyuu smiled slightly at the childish counsellor, taking another bite of the cheesy goodness— enjoying their peaceful time together as she started talking about the recipe and her favourite cooking channel on YouTube.

Over the past few weeks, Giyuu and Miyasha had developed a small routine— during the morning, She helped him with handling the children (gently prodding them into their class as he glared at them from the back) and during the lunch, he ate with her in her office, sharing their food as she talked about everything and anything she could.

"Oh! I have asked Kamado-chan to stop eating in class too." Miyasha suddenly relayed, "She has agreed to it, but it may take some time. So, have patience with her, okay?"

Giyuu nodded in understanding, "And her brother...?"

"Ah, Kamado-kun still refuses to remove his earrings." She sadly replied, "Since it is his ancestral earrings that his father gave him before his death, he really doesn't wants to remove them at all. Though, I'll still try to ask him again to at least remove it during the school time."

Giyuu nodded again, chewing the fried rice in his mouth. After a few days with this routine, he got to know more about the students than he ever did— let it be Tanjiro's history, Zenitsu's family tree or even Inosuke's background.

And he won't lie— these did help him a lot to understand and control the children.

_'Should I ask her to taste this...?' _He absent-mindedly thought as he looked at his bento, _'She did offer hers, so...'_

Before he could do that, someone suddenly knocked on the door of the office, making the couple jump in surprise.

"Who can it be...?" Miyasha mumbled to herself, before leaning back into her chair, "Please come in!" She answered, watching as the door opened to show her follow teachers.

"Hello, Sarota-san!" Rengoku greeted as Uzui popped up, "I hope we are not interrupting anything!" The art teacher said slyly, watching as the implication flew off the female counsellor's head.

"Of course not!" Miyasha amiably replied, "Please come in! And Rengoku-san, please call me Miyasha! I'm really not used to people addressing me by my last name."

"Ah, will do, Miyasha-san." Rengoku smiled kindly, "Please call me by my first name too!"

Miyasha chuckled at his enthusiasm, "Hai, Kyojuro-san!" She looked over at both the teachers hands, noticing them carrying their bentos, "How may I help you, gentlemen?"

"Actually," Uzui started, discreetly staring at Giyuu to watch his reaction, "We were here to ask if you wanna have lunch with us, if you're not busy that is."

"Why not." Miyasha instantly replied, "If Tomioka-san doesn't minds." She turned to the gym teacher, asking for his consent.

Giyuu looked at them indifferently, hesitantly nodding his approval as he noticed her hopeful gaze on him.

_'Dammit.' _He cursed in his mind as he watched her offer her seat to Uzui as she sat on the table. It wasn't like he particularly minded— it was just that...

"Mm, these are really good!" Rengoku moaned openly, making Miyasha blush at all the praises she was receiving.

"I'm glad you liked it! It is American cafe-styled double cheese sandwich! I recently looked up its recipe online and made it today morning."

"Wait, so this is your first try?" Uzui asked as he took a bite, "It's damn delicious for a first time! Very flamboyant!"

Miyasha chuckled at his unique praise, her blush deepening as she scratched her neck sheepishly.

_'...I don't like this.' _Giyuu concluded, staring at his male co-workers, _'I don't know why, but I don't like this. At all.'_

* * *

_**Well, I know many of you don't like these highschool AUs much but, well, I do. So, I uploaded.**_

_**These short chapters give me some creative space and let me write our familiar characters in very unique scenes! This lets me practice writing them in a modern setting, which would help me in writing the other modern fanfic I'm planning to do UwU**_

_**Anyway, normal chapters are coming up just ahead!**_


	34. Chapter 31

**(~Recovery Training Arc~)**

* * *

"Tomioka-san... brought me here?" I asked in disbelief, not knowing how to feel about it.

_'Maybe because he has good speed...?' _I mused, still not convinced over the whole thing, _'Or maybe it is because he kept following me before? But even then—'_

Questions, questions, questions.  
Too many of these questions.

"Hai, Aneki." Tanjiro replied, "He took Oyakata-sama's permission and immediately carried you here."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling embarrassed at the whole ordeal.

"It's alright, Aneki." Zenitsu piped up, "You don't need to be embarrassed about it— you were injured after all."

I ruffled the blond slayer's hair, a small smile forming on my lips as they keep referring me as their older sister.

Apparently, it has been a week since the Hashira meeting; and if I were to go by what Tanjiro and Zenitsu said, then I was unconscious almost the entire time since then.

In fact, I even had a high fever almost all of the week which went down just a day before I woke up.

_'They most likely tried blood transfusion on me.' _I concluded once Tanjiro finished retelling the whole incident. Unfortunately, neither he nor Zenitsu could tell if they actually did try transfusing blood to me due to their lack of knowledge about the whole thing.

A sudden knock on the door made our attention shift, "Moshi, Moshi!" Shinobu greeted with a sweet smile, carrying a small tray with medicines in one hand while the other one still pressed against the door, "May I come in?"

"Please do, Hashira-sama." I politely replied, discreetly staring at her as she entered and placed the tray on the table beside the right side of the bed.

"How are you feeling, Sarota-san?" She asked kindly, her smile widening as both the boys turned to her as well.

"I'm feeling great, Hashira-sama!"

"I'm Kocho Shinobu, Sarota-san." She introduced herself, smiling softly as she handed me a glass of water and my medicines, "I'm the Insect Hashira, and the head of the Butterfly Estate."

"Thank you for letting me stay here, Kocho-san." I smiled awkwardly, "And, can you please refer to me by my given name, ma'am?"

Shinobu blinked in surprise, before smiling again and agreeing to it.

"Kocho-san," I started once I took my medicines, "I hope you don't mind if I ask... but, did my fever cause due to blood transfusion?"

Shinobu stared at me for a few seconds before admitting, "Hai, Miyasha-san. An attempt was made to donate some blood to you since you had lost so much; however, it was soon noticed that the... _consistency _of your blood was quite different than the usual blood, so it was stopped. Unfortunately, the doctor present could only stop the transfusion when it was already halfway through..."

I chuckled lightly at her remorseful tone, "No harm done, Kocho-san. I may look weak, but this body has sustained through quite a few life threatening injuries. So, no need to worry too much about it."

"It's not much reassuring, you know?" Zenitsu muttered, making both the females smile at his sulking tone.

"Although, I'm glad you made it out alive..." Shinobu's tone sounding genuinely relieved, "Your speedy recovery surprised us all."

"I heal fast." I simply answered, chuckling as I noticed Shinobu frown in confusion, "My blood is slightly thicker in consistency than the normal human blood due to — what I assume it to be — presence of higher amount of white blood cells, resulting in my stronger immune system." I explained, "By studying the very short span needed for my blood to clot, I'll also like to assume that I have a higher number of platelets; thus, aiding to my high healing metabolism."

Tanjiro and Zenitsu blinked owlishly while Shinobu looked pretty surprised (but somewhat intrigued) by the time I finished explaining.

"That is very interesting." Shinobu replied, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, "That must mean that you are immune to many of the diseases, aren't you?"

"In a way, yes." I affirmed, "I fall sick way less than average humans, but if I do, it is very severe."

"I understand." She suddenly turned to Tanjiro and Zenitsu, "Are you not going for your morning training, Tanjiro-kun? Zenitsu-kun?"

"Hai, Shinobu-san!" Tanjiro immediately got off the bed, bidding us a hurried farewell before he dragged a whining Zenitsu behind him.

I blinked a few times in surprise and shook my head at their antics as Shinobu started again, "Tanjiro-kun, Zenitsu-kun and Inosuke-kun came to visit you everyday before they went for their morning training." She relayed, her smile turning softer as she noticed my surprised expression, "Inosuke-kun couldn't come to visit today because he went to training early— he was rather determined to finish the recovery training today."

"Recovery training?" I blurted out before immediately realizing what she meant.

"In Butterfly Estate, we organize a functional recovery training for all the injured slayers, so that they could return to the field with their full body movement recovered just as before their injury." Shinobu explained, "I would like you to participate in it as well— though, you should rest a few more days before you do! You did lose a lot of blood almost a week ago."

"Understood." I turned to look back at the window behind my bed post, "Kocho-san, I hope you won't mind if I ask a few things from you?"

"Eh? What things, Miyasha-san?"

"Nothing much, I assure you, just— I... have developed some very peculiar habits, unfortunately. I cannot... _sleep _unless I am sitting under the presence of warm sunlight. So... if it is not of too much inconvenience for you, can I sleep on the porch of the Estate while I try and fail to meditate?"

Shinobu blinked at my strange request, "Miyasha-san, if you cannot sleep without sunlight... how do you sleep at night?"

"I don't, actually." I answer honestly, "Since my body feels extremely cold at times, I usually can only sleep when I have some warm source near me, thus, the Sunlight. However, due to this habit of mine, I forgone sleeping at night many a times resulting in my... rather nocturnal nature. Now, the only time I can sleep during the night is either when I'm unconscious or when I have passed out due to exhaustion or lack of sleep."

"That is very unhealthy, Miyasha-san." Shinobu frowned, making me give her a sheepish smile.

"Yeah... I know, Kocho-san." I sheepishly said before continuing, "Anyway, the second and last thing I wanted to ask of you was actually a... _recipe,_ if you may call it."

"Recipe?"

"Uh, yeah— actually, since I use my blood in demon slaying and medicines quite often, I need to keep a check on my own blood level. So for that, I often take a... _rather_ unappealing but effective 'medicine' to avoid weakening of my body."

"Oh?"

"Mmhm. An elderly female had once given me this 'recipe' when she noticed my weakened state after using my blood to make a large dose of medicines."

"What are the ingredients of it, Miyasha-san?"

"A... slurry of egg yolk, milk and steamed organ meat like kidney and liver." A shiver went up my spine as I imagined its taste, noticing Shinobu having almost the same reaction as me.

"Miyasha-san, are sure you can...?"

"I know it may seem questionable, but I assure you it is a very effective recipe." I shivered in disgust again, "I have been taking that 'medicine' for over three years now, and at this point, it's more of a necessary evil than anything."

Shinobu nodded, "I understand. Although, I can simply change your diet instead of that recipe, if it helps...?"

"It will, thank you." I smiled at her kindness, "Though, I may still have to take it if I want to replenish my medicinal stock anytime soon now."

"Ah, that reminded me— can you tell me how you actually make your pastes?" Shinobu asked tentatively, "I apologize but I recently used some of your medicines on the recovering demon slayers to see how they react with their injuries."

"Ah, no need to apologize, Kocho-san!" I waved her apology off, "Please do tell how they performed, though."

"Beyond my expectations." She replied, "Their injuries healed up much faster and the smell was rather pleasant as... opposed to what I initial thought it would be like."

I chuckled at her sheepish smile, my heart feeling rather lighter this morning, "Not your fault, I assure you." I nonchalantly replied, "I normally dry out my blood by mixing medicinal herbs with it and adding a bit of either lavender essence or calendula essence as the additional healing agents and for their good smell."

"Ah."

"Though, I still prefer to make consumable medicine more than the applicable ones as they work much faster and are more effective in boosting the healing process." I declared.

"Does the amount of blood you add into your medicines affect the healing process of the patience?"

"Usually no— it all depends on how many times they apply or take the said medicine." I replied, "Although, I do have to set my blood aside for other purposes too, so, I constrict the amount of blood I use in the medicines to the bare minimum."

"Other purposes?"

"Yes, like for demon slaying." I explained, "That activity requires a huge portion of my blood, so, I refrain from using too much of it anywhere else."

"How do you... inject your blood into the demons, Miyasha-san?" Shinobu asked curiously, her eyes boring into mine as she leaned over me slightly.

"I normally drizzle it over my nichirin fans." I confessed, "And even though it may not sound as much of an effective way for the injection, it does its work so I don't complain."

Shinobu nodded before admitting, "I... can't decapitate a demon either." She took a pause, looking at the open window behind me, "My body does not have that much strength. However, I have developed a poison lethal to demons." She turned her attention back to me, her deep violet eyes looking into my bluish-violet ones, "My sword is especially made for the purpose of injecting that poison into the demons— hollow from the inside with small pores at the tips of the sword. Would you like a sword made for your own use with a familiar structure as mine? I can help you with it, if you would like to."

Her sudden proposal left me speechless— she seemed to genuinely want to help me, and I honestly couldn't help but blush slightly at that.

_'After all, she was my favourite Hashira in my previous life.'_

"Y-You're too kind, Kocho-san." I somehow blurted out, "I... may think about it— but I hope you won't mind if I take some time to think... I'm yet to even decide if I actually want swords as my main weapon or not..."

"I understand." The corner of her eyes wrinkled up as she smiled genuinely, "Take your time, Miyasha-san." She said softly as she slowly got off the side of the bed, "If you need any help or advice, please do not hesitate to ask of me, alright?"

"Thank you so much, Kocho-san..." I genuinely thanked her, my heart skipping a beat as she gave me another sweet smile.

"You're always welcome, Miyasha-san. Unfortunately I have to leave." she was almost at the door as she turned to me, "It was nice meeting you, Miyasha-san."

"I-It was nice meeting y-you too, ma'am!" I stuttered out, blushing as she chuckled.

"Oh! I almost forgot—" she turned towards me again, smiling mischievously, "The three young slayers weren't your only visitors, Miyasha-san."

"Eh?"

"If I'm not wrong," she looked at the window behind me, "They would be here in a few minutes or so." And she left after saying that.

I stared at the now closed door in utter confusion.

_'...what?'_

* * *

"Arigato, Aoi-chan!" I thanked her, smiling kindly as she a slight blush dusted over her pale cheeks, "I hope you wouldn't mind if I call you by your first name, right?"

Aoi shook her head, blushing brightly as I chuckled and patted on her head.

_'She's too cute.' _I inwardly gushed, smiling kindly at her as she handed me a glass of milk.

"Here's your milk, Miya—" Suddenly the door to the room slammed open, making me jump and almost spill the milk.

Fortunately, Aoi had caught my hand and immediately stabilized the glass of milk, saving the white liquid from spilling all over me and the bed.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Aoi." I apologized to her before turning to the new arrivals.

My heart stopped for a moment as I stared at their amused faces before blurting out the first thing that came into my mind—

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

Hitoshi deadpanned at my question; giving me the most flat look he could as he replied, "We are here to see you, dumbass. Why the hell would we be here otherwise?!"

"I..." my lips curved up into a smile as I spread my arms, watching amusingly as the Hitoshi sprinted up into my arms like a little child, "I missed you both so much!"

I chuckled as I heard Aoi squeak behind me, "You can leave now, Aoi. I'll drink the milk in a few minutes, okay?" I turned to her after Hitoshi let me off the hug, smiling as she nodded and instantly left the room.

Hiroshi, instead, took her spot and smacked me upside my head.

"Hey!"

"Hiro! How many times should I tell you not to hit her?!"

"Why the _fuck _did go to the Natagumo mountain when you _knew _there was a _**lower moon **_there?" Hiroshi glared at me, his bluish-green eyes filled with annoyance and relief, "Are you fucking insane?"

"I just couldn't let them die there!" I whined, rubbing the back of my head as I looked at Hiroshi with an offended look, "And I initially didn't knew if there was a Demon Moon there or—"

"Don't fucking lie..." Hiroshi pulled my right cheek hard, "...to us. We know exactly when you're lying! Don't tell me you couldn't feel that demon's aura from far away!"

"_Stahp iwt_!" I smacked his hand, rubbing my cheek tenderly as he finally left it, "Why you so mean~!" I whined, giving a dirty look to Hitoshi who was chuckling beside me.

"It was almost not worth meeting you guys." I sulked, making Hitoshi laugh loudly while Hiroshi just shook his head dejectedly.

It had been almost two years since I even saw a glimpse of them— four, since I saw them and properly talked to them.

"You both have grown even taller..." I commented off-handedly, reaching out to Hitoshi's waist-length ponytail, "Finally decided to keep your hair long?"

"Yep!" Hitoshi answered enthusiastically, "It gives me a rather dashing look!" he winked at me, "Not to mention it helps people differentiate between us. It gets a bit annoying after a while when people hand Hiro's things to me."

"It really suits you." I genuinely complimented. Unlike his messy hairstyle a few years back, his hair was now slicked back into a tight ponytail, giving others a rather clear view of his blue-green eyes and sharp cheekbones.

Hiroshi, on the other hand, still had his short messy hairstyle but unlike before, it reached till his shoulder and had a strange flip to it.

"You've grown a lot too." Hiroshi commented, sitting at the foot of the bed as he reached out to ruffle my hair, "You finally look like an adult now."

I stuck my tongue out at his jab, making Hitoshi chuckle again.

"He is right though," Hitoshi agreed, "You look even more like a woman now— and too beautiful for words, little one. Do we need to look for a suitor for you soon, hm?"

"Find one for yourself first, old man." I taunted back, making Hiroshi chuckle at Hitoshi's blush, "You look like you need a little bit of _love _there_, _if you know what I mean, senpai."

"Miyasha!"

I grinned cheekily as Hitoshi glared at me, his face completely red by this point.

"Jokes aside," Hiroshi brushed off, "How do you feel? How are your injuries?"

"Much better than before." I answered honestly, "I didn't had any lasting injuries though— just a few hairline fractures here and there, and a bit of a blood loss."

"_A __**few**__? A bit?_" Hitoshi glared at me, "You were unconscious for a week, Miyasha; a _**week **_even with your body's high healing power. Who the hell are you fooling here?"

"I'm not fooling—"

"Then start taking your wounds seriously, Miyasha." Hiroshi added, "Since you've finally decided to be a demon slayer, you need to keep these things in consideration or you will die."

"I—" I gulped as I remembered my situation, "—understand. I will, senpai."

I didn't push them about it any further, avoiding to tell them that all this was not new to me— because for all they knew, I've been nothing but a travelling doctor for four years; nothing more, nothing less.

It wasn't like they didn't know about my blood's anomalous properties— at least, not the whole of it. They were familiar with its medicinal properties, however the corrosive nature it attained in the presence of demon flesh was not exactly explained to them.

_'Not to mention they'll completely_ _flip off if they hear about it.' _I thought, before changing the topic to safer zones, "Anyway, why are you here so suddenly?"

"Why? Can't we visit you anymore?" Hitoshi teased, strangely deflecting my question.

"You can, but how did you know I was _here_, as in the Butterfly Estate? Also, why were you visiting the Estate in the first place? Are you both injured?"

"No, we were called here." Hiroshi answered before looking at his twin from the corner of his eyes, "We heard you were here when we were talking to Shinobu-san."

_'What are they hiding...?' _I frowned as I looked at both the males, wondering if I should ask them about it or not, _'Maybe later... I really don't wanna grill them right now.'_

"I didn't know you were on first name basis with Kocho-san." I taunted, my suspicion about the whole thing showing through my voice.

"The number of times we visited here sure helped in that." Hiroshi piped up, "Anyway! We brought some gifts for you!"

"Eh?"

"Nothing special, just a haori and a few hair clips." Hitoshi added, "We know your luck with haoris, so we decided to bring you a spare one." He teased, making me puff my cheeks up.

"Not my fault that my haori is torn down first thing in a fight!"

"Yeah, yeah, we know." Hitoshi patted my head, "We'll bring them along with us the next time we visit. Till then," he leaned towards me excitedly, "Let's talk about your breathing style."

"Wait, what?"

"Have you decided which breathing style do you want?" He pressed on further, his bluish-green eyes sparkling as he continued, "Want us to teach you the snow one? I bet you'll catch onto it pretty quickly too since you've seen us perform it so many times—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I leaned back, "Hold your horses, senpai! Changing topics so quick ain't good for any conversation! And no, I'm _not _going to learn the snow breathing technique."

"Aww, why~?"

_'Because I don't wanna be like those stupid OCs in those typical Demon Slayer fanfics?'_

"Just no." I firmly declined, "That is my decision and please respect that."

"Aww..."

"Breathing technique," Hiroshi started, watching his twin whine beside him with slight annoyance, "Is nothing more than your own fighting style with the application of full concentrated breath." He turned to me, "If you already have a particular fighting style, you can develop your own breathing technique. However, every breathing technique has a particular theme to it; such as the water breathing is very flexible while the snow one is more rigid and faster in its forms."

"I... didn't know that."

"Of course. That is why every breath style is unique and differentiated while still being branched off from the same source." Hiroshi continued, "If you want to, then you can join us while we practice— even if you don't learn the snow breathing, you can still practice with us and brush up on the basic stances."

"Yep! We can also show you the new forms we made and practiced!" Hitoshi piped up again, making me blink in surprise.

"Wait, you _made _some new forms?!"

"Yes! And you'll love them!" He grinned proudly, "So, please don't hesitate to join us while we practice!"

"Why not." I agreed enthusiastically, holding off from saying anything else.

If I had my way, I wouldn't have to learn a breathing technique; I could just rely the utility of my blood and that would be it.

"So, now tell me... what have you two being up to for the past few years? Any girls I should be worried about~?" I changed the topic, watching amusingly as Hitoshi's face turned red again.

"Mi-Miyasha!"

* * *

_'It was such a wonderful day today...'_ And honestly it was— I didn't die, Tanjiro and Zenitsu started calling me Aneki, Shinobu and I had quite a decent chat, I met the twins after a _long_ time and finally now, I was feeling way better than I ever did. Yes, there was still quite a bit of pain here and there but my mind felt much lighter and calmer than it had felt in _years._

_'Is it because I'm completing my so-called destiny?'_ I wondered, staring at the starry sky as I sat on the edge of the porch of the Butterfly Estate, _'Should I really continue this though?'_

I sighed heavily, closing my eyes as I felt the warm wind brush past me.

For years I've tried to avoid the plot, and somehow I still ended up in the exact middle of it— yet, I felt really... happy, satisfied, as if I _belonged _here.

_'Or as much as a fanfic character does, heh.' _I shook my head, _'It doesn't matter now anyway— I'm already here, and I'm already gonna make an unwanted impact on the plot.'_

All I could do now was to try and keep the plot in line as much as possible, right?

_'Many people will die if I do so...' _  
But won't they die anyway? Who am I to play the God in a world that isn't even my own, anyway?

And me disrupting the plot could cause in even more casualties...  
_Right?_

_'What if... that wasn't the case?' _My heart whispered as I finally opened my eyes. The night sky was filled with thousands and thousands of stars— it was not a new sight to me and yet...

_'...I never took a break to enjoy them.'_

"Aneki?" Tanjiro suddenly called, making my attention snap back to the present, "The dinner is ready!"

"Mmhm, give me a few minutes." I answered back, slowly getting up from the porch as another wave of warm wind blew by.

_'I'll cross the bridge when I'm there.' _I finally decided, heading inside as I mused, _'I've been going at this for too long. Just for once... I want to take a break and just... enjoy the present.'_

"Aneki!"

"I'm here, I'm here, I'm here! Hold your horses, you stooges!"

* * *

_**A bit of a break for the characters, eh? **_  
_**I know this looks quite like a filler chapter— in fact, you can even say it is one, but our dearest characters honestly needed a break; especially Miyasha.**_

_**Anyway, I'm sorry for the late update! I had unfortunately sprained my right hand quite severely three days back and that hindered me for doing almost any work, let alone typing xD**_

_**However, I'm feeling quite alright now; so here's the chappie! Hope ya all like this and if you do, don't hesitate to comment here **_

_**》****Taishou Secret!****《**_  
_**(Yes, I'm now starting this shit—)**_

_**Hitoshi is the older one out of the Kinomiya twins! He is about ten minutes older than Hiroshi— however he never behaves or conveys it in any way because he doesn't cares enough for that!**_

_**Now, onto the Review replies! **_

**2004em: _Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you like these chapters! ^^_**

**Guest: _I'm really glad you liked the previous chapter! I hope you enjoy these as well!_**

**Einklley: _First of all, I wish you a belated Happy Birthday, dear! I really hope your big day went wonderfully and it's absolutely fine if you took off some time to yourself! I'm really glad you liked the previous chapters_**_**— and I am not gonna disclose about Sanemi so soon! You sure as hell are as smart as Sherlock Holmes in deducing all these hints xD And to your last two questions is yes UwU**_

**FyreDraagyn12: _Aww, thank you so much for such a sweet review! I'm really glad you liked the story up until now and I really hope you enjoy this chapter as well!_**

_**And that's all for this chapter, folks! **__**Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	35. Chapter 32

"Miyasha-nee?" A soft voice called me from across the hallway, "Miya-nee!"

"I'm here, dear." I pressed a hand against my mouth, covering my yawn as I heard rapid footsteps approaching me.

"Miyasha-nee!"

"Yes, dear?" I turned to the approaching girl, noticing how tired she look, "Do you need some water, Naho-chan...?

"Shinobu-san was looking for you!" Naho declared as she finally reached me, "Please follow me!"

"Ah," I smiled sweetly at the braided girl, "Thank you for informing me, Naho-chan! Please be a dear and give me a few minutes, eh? I just woke up— so, I'll need a few minutes to function properly~"

"Hai, onee-chan!" Naho nodded, immediately jumping to help me stand up and straighten my clothes.

"Naho-chan is a very sweet girl!" I praised her, patting her softly as she gave me a bright smile, "Thank you so much for helping the poor, old me~"

"You're not old, onee-chan!" Naho replied innocently as she tugged on the sleeve of my new haori, "Let's go! Let's go! Or else you'll be late for the meeting!"

_'You have no idea how old I am, dear.'_ I thought amusingly before asking, "Ah, so Shinobu-san is calling me for the meeting, hm?"

"Hai!" She exclaimed before 'dragging' me by my haori's sleeve, making a small smile bloom on my face involuntarily.

It had been a couple of days since I gained my consciousness back— and only a whole day or so since I was allowed to sleep outside in the sunlight.

_'Though, they still aren't_ _comfortable with the idea itself...'_ I mused wryly as I felt Aoi lurking nearby, always keeping an eye on me as I and Naho walked down the hallway, _'At least not yet, I guess.'_

I couldn't blame them though; most of my habits were abnormal to say the least, and they really were doing their best to just let me continue as much as they could.

_'Though it was funny when I asked her for a knife.'_ The corner of my lips pulled into a smirk as I remembered that incident; my hand automatically weaving through my now shoulder-length hair, _'Aoi was as pale as a ghost when she saw me turning that towards my neck.'_

Well, in my defence, I was just trying to cut my hair— my hair grows too quickly and a bit too thick, making it a necessity to cut it almost every three months or braid it really tight since I couldn't dedicate much time to them with everything considered.

And because of that, I grew into the habit of chopping it off with the help of a knife instead of scissors— not to mention the one time when I actually did use scissors, it ended up looking way messier than it did when I chopped it with a knife.

And don't get me started on how easy it is to use knife for this. Just braid your hair and chop it off near the roots of the hair.

_'But Aoi did give me a very neat haircut.' _I mentally agreed, _'Even though the haircut looks a tad bit too similar to Shinobu's...'_

I mean, it's not necessarily a _bad_ thing, but...

"Ara ara, Miyasha-san," We heard Shinobu's voice, turning to see her standing at the gates of the Butterfly Estate with Tanjiro, "You finally arrived. I was eagerly waiting for you~!"

I smiled at her shyly, greeting Tanjiro as I approached them.

"No greeting for me, Miyasha-san~?" Shinobu teased, smiling mischievously, "Are you angry with me?"

"Of c-course not, Shinobu-san." I fumbled out, huffing as Shinobu started poking me teasingly.

I didn't know why; I didn't know how, but Shinobu somehow deduced that I have a certain... um, weakness towards her teasing and since then, she amiably teases me whenever she could— especially since Aoi gave me a haircut.

"Shinobu-san... you're such a relentless teaser."

"Oh? I thought you liked it~" she sweetly replied, intently staring at me for my reaction.

"I-It's not like that." I replied before walking out the gates, "Let's just start moving or we will be late for the meeting!"

"Aneki is right, we should start moving!" Tanjiro declared as well, stepping up beside me as we started towards the Headquarters.

My lips pulled into a smile as Tanjiro complimented my hair again, though Shinobu's agreement and slight tease made me blush again.

_'Oh for fuck's sake Miyasha, stop blushing!'_

"What is this meeting for, Shinobu-san?" Tanjiro asked as we neared the Headquarters, his eyes looking a bit wearily at the gates. I honestly couldn't blame him for feeling like that after all that happened last time we were here.

"Oh, just a small meeting to discuss about Kibutsuji." Shinobu finally clarified as we entered, "Since you two are the only ones who know how he looks and may have an estimate on how strong he might be," her eyes strayed towards me for a second before looking forward again, "Oyakata-sama and the Hashiras really wanted to ask you some questions about him."

_'A grilling session, huh?'_  
It never really happened in manga, did it now?

_'Not as far as I remember at least—'_  
Not that it wasn't logical actually; even though Kagaya had his own system of informants, there were some things that couldn't be found out through them. Not to mention that this was actually a good chance for me to ask about my blood.

_'Maybe I could find its origin— I really can't be a part of a fanfic, can I now? If this indeed is the world Gotoke or whatever-the-mangaka's-name-was wrote, then there must be a good reason why my blood wasn't even mentioned once during the manga. In fact, there even might be others like me that I—' _The thought struck through me suddenly, causing me to feel a strange breathlessness, _'There can be others like me out there...'_

A took in a deep breath, feeling light-headed all of a sudden. The thought of people like me exist— with my abnormal type of blood, strangely felt... uplifting and yet so bizarre.

"Are you feeling alright, Miyasha-san?" Shinobu asked, her violet eyes shining with genuine worry, "If this feels too much for you, I can ask Oyakata-sama to dismiss you for today..."

"No, no, I'm fine, I assure you." I replied hastily, smiling awkwardly as we halted just before entering the yard of the mansion, "I was just... I was just thinking how strange it would be to finally know something concrete about my blood. I've been trying to find about it for about four years now and it's just... strange."

Shinobu and Tanjiro blinked in confusion, making me sweatdrop.

"Um, I mean... I never met anyone with the kind of blood I have and it made me feel a bit... um, abnormal." I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck as Tanjiro nodded with sympathy while Shinobu outright patted my hands, "Don't worry! It's not that big of an issue! It just made me think, that's all—"

"Miyasha?" My body immediately froze as I heard their familiar chorus, slowly tilting my head to see the very people I _didn't _want to see today.

"What are you doing here?" Hiroshi asked bluntly, his eyes looking suspiciously at Tanjiro beside me before turning to Shinobu who looked right back at him with a blank expression, "Wasn't today's meeting about Kibutsuji...?" He asked subtly, his eyes staring sharply at the Insect Hashira.

"I was called for the meeting." I answered him instead, "But, why are you two here...?" I questioned back, keeping my tone light to avoid the worry I was feeling leaking in.

_'Are they here because they are my brothers? Are they going to be used as bargained chips against me— or pressure points, maybe...? What is Kagaya trying to do?'_

"We..." Hiroshi turned towards Hitoshi, making me frown in suspicion.

"...Why were you two called in? What did you do?" I asked directly, worry finally seeping through my words, "Is it something serious?"

"...It's not like that— yeah, we are called in, but not because we did anything but rather as..." Hitoshi answered as he patted me, _"...Hashiras."_

"W-Wait, _what?_" I blurted out, moving a step away as a strong feeling of guilt started to grow in my chest.

They exchanged a glance, "We wanted to tell you but—" Hitoshi replied but I wasn't listening.

_'No, no, no, no, no, no—'_

"—We just wanted to surprise you! We even had a plan to celebrate this and you joining the Corps once you fully recovered..." Hitoshi finished as I finally focused back onto him.

I glanced at their painfully expectant expression, feeling my heart crack as they waited for my response.

_'They care so much for my opinion...'_ I could feel the tears forming in my eyes, _'But I... This... this shouldn't have happened. They... are Hashiras now— They... We shouldn't have even existed in all this... And now they are in the middle of all this shit because of me—'_

"Are you mad...?" Hitoshi asked meekly.

"No, I'm not." I answered honestly, trying to keep my voice as emotionless as possible, "I was just... caught off-guard."

"I'm glad you are fine with it..." Hitoshi chuckled awkwardly, but Hiroshi kept on staring at me intently, "For a minute I thought you didn't want us—"

"I... kinda didn't— being a Hashira is a dangerous job and... please take care of each other. I really don't want to lose you two..." I confessed, before turning towards the yard, "I... I'm glad you could become one. I'm really proud of you two..." I said, closing my eyes to concentrate on keeping my breathing even.

_'They are here because of me.' _The realization hit me in the face as I walked into the yard, making the other Hashiras stare in my direction, _'They were not supposed to be here, but they are— that means I... I have been influencing the plot way before I even interfered in it...'_

And that thought scared me— it terrified me for the changes I'd brought even without realising or intending to; for the lives I might have affected. I... I had been playing with the Twins' lives... and because of me, they were going to die.

_'They could very well die in the Infinity Fortress—'_ I immediately closed my eyes to stop the tears forming from flowing down as I bowed low.

"Forgive me for the way I acted in the last Hashira meeting." I threw out, my voice quivering slightly but I covered it up instantly, "Please accept my apology, Hashira-sama."

A few seconds of silence greeted my sudden apology before Mitsuri stuttered out how she didn't mind it. Even Uzui, Rengoku and Himejima agreed with her before Rengoku asked me to stand up straight.

"We understand, Sarota-san!" He said with his blinding smile, his dual-coloured eyes sparkling in the sunlight, "We forgive you! We apologize for our insensitive treatment towards you as well!" He apologized, before stepping forward, "Are your injuries better now, Sarota-san?"

"They are." I smiled softly at his kind expression as I stood up straight, still feeling quite low as my heart felt much heavier than it ever did, "Thanks to Shinobu-san. She and the Kakushis treated me really well."

"I'm happy that you think so~" Shinobu answered as she and Tanjiro entered, her smile relaxed and soft, "I'm glad you apologized, Miyasha-san! Although, I think your brash behaviour might be more of a side effect of blood loss than from your own consent..." she softly relayed as she gave me a close-eyed smiled, "So, I wouldn't completely count it as your fault!"

I blinked at her in surprise as I heard the twins finally arrive, _'Why did she...'_

"Wait, wait, wait." Hitoshi interjected, looking quizzically towards everyone, "What happened— last meeting? You mean the Semi-annual Hashira meeting? What happened back then?" He then turned to me, "What did you do that you had to apologize for?"

"...Behaved like a wounded animal." I answered back honestly, shifting my eyes away as both the twins turned to me in disbelief while Shinobu pressed a hand to her lips as she hid her smile.

"Miyasha-san was there because of me!" Tanjiro spoke up, shifting all the attention on me to himself, "We were brought here because I was carrying a demon with me—"

"Yes, you and Nezuko were." I cut in softly, glowering at Tanjiro in challenge, "I was called in because of my blood and if I remember correctly, Oyakata-sama was already aware about my abnormality way before the mountain mission, 'Jiro. Not to mention I went in voluntarily— so, you are nowhere at fault, here."

"...I'm still confused." Hitoshi confessed after a beat of silence, to which I shot back, "Then stay so, senpai." Making everyone have a good laugh over it.

"You know them?" Uzui asked Hitoshi casually as he pointed towards me and Tanjiro, "Are they your old acquaintances or something?"

Hitoshi shook his head, "Only Miyasha— you can say she's our junior." He turned towards me before frowning, "You were brought in for your blood? To treat people?"

I froze again, finally remembering the main reason why I didn't wanted to see them—

"Not... exactly." I replied vaguely as I shifted my eyes away.

Hiroshi's eyes narrowed, "What else?" His voice echoed through the yard, "Miyasha, why did you join the Demon Slayer Corps?" He finally asked, making me flinch.

"You don't know about it?" Obanai asked, his eyes narrowing.

"How would we?" Hiroshi answered, not moving his eyes away from me, "We were on a mission during that meeting and—"

"—All we do know is that something happened with the Kamado kid." Hitoshi continued, "But Miyasha—"

"Oyakata-sama," two female voices suddenly echoed, "Has arrived." They declared softly, ceasing all the activities happening before the announcement.

Oyakata-sama gradually approached the yard in a similar fashion as the last meeting, sitting down on the porch as everyone else greeted him with a respected bow.

_'I'm really glad Tanjiro decided to sit beside me...'_ I discreetly stared at the twins— they were sitting at the far right of the apparent sitting arrangement we had naturally assumed; just beside Tanjiro who was on my right, _'I don't know if I could have handled them right now...'_

"Good morning, my beloved children." Kagaya started, his smile as serene as ever, "Thank you for coming here today."

"Ohayo, Oyakata-sama." I started before anyone else, "Thank you for calling me here today... I'm extremely glad to see you in good health, Sire. I fervently pray for your good health and continued prosperity."

Kagaya's smile widened as he heard me, "Arigato, Miyasha." He thanked me as he stared in the general direction of my voice, "I hope your injuries are better now."

"They are, Sire." I replied, "I'm extremely sorry to have been worried you."

I looked up slightly, "I... I also apologize for my extremely inappropriate behaviour during the last Hashira meeting. Please forgive me for my misconduct."

"Apology accepted." Kagaya softly said with his unwavering smile, "I apologize for pushing you till that point as well." He then turned to Tanjiro, asking how his own injuries were and how the recovery training was going.

"Oyakata-sama," I started once there was a beat of silence, feeling my throat strangely dry, "I-If I may be allowed to ask, may I inquire about the details regarding the dokuchi blood type, Sire?"

"I see. I apologize for not having the book with me right now. I will send it to the Butterfly Estate as soon as I may find it." Kagaya sincerely replied, making my heart calm down a bit, "However, I do remember a few things I read. Do you want me to relay them to you?"

"Yes, please, Oyakata-sama." I instantly replied, my heart skipping a beat in nervous excitement.

An almost amused smile crossed his face before he started speaking, "Among humans, there are two rare blood types that affect demons the most— marechi and dokuchi. Individuals with marechi blood type are considered to have nutritional value equivalent to almost fifty humans." Kagaya explained, "Individuals with dokuchi blood type, meanwhile, are considered to be poisonous for demons— almost opposite to the marechi."

"However, the occurrence of dokuchi have been even rarer throughout the history— especially with your type of dokuchi." He finished.

"My... type?" I asked out loud.

"Yes. Dokuchi blood is poisonous for demons, but has never been observed to be as... _active_ as yours is." Kagaya replied.

"Oyakata-sama," Shinobu started sweetly, "How rare is for a human to have dokuchi blood?"

"Thrice in a millennia."

"Wh-What." I blurted out as my eyes widened, my whole body turning cold as if someone dumped a bucket of ice water on me.

"There have only been two dokuchi recorded in the past millennia." Kagaya confessed softly.

"Oyakata-sama... c-can it be that demons don't know such individuals existed...?" I asked unsurely, "I mean, can it be that individuals with Dokuchi blood could go unnoticed?"

"There can be." Kagaya confirmed, "However, such occurrences might be very difficult, considering that they emit a specific odour— similar to how marechi do as well. This odour causes the Demon eliminating the dokuchi as they come in contact with one."

_'I... I'm really confused now.'_

"But..." I started, thinking how to frame my question, "I have encountered many demons before— one of them being Muzan himself, and almost none of them realized me as one until my blood came in contact with their own flesh..."

"...I see." Kagaya said after a beat of silence, "Unfortunately, I can't say I know the reason to that."

"If I may, Oyakata-sama," Hiroshi started, making me turn to him, "I might have a plausible explanation for that."

"Please continue, Hiroshi."

"Miyasha..." he looked at me from the corner of his eyes, "...has a very _suppressed_ aura and smell— her movements and presence is very difficult to feel as her aura is almost non-existent. At least, till she is right in front of you."

"R-Really?" I blurted out, a frown forming on my face, "I... when did you notice this?"

"From always." He shrugged as Hitoshi continued for him, "You always had a very minimalistic presence— at least when you didn't speak." Hitoshi confessed.

"I didn't know..." I confessed, my mind processing the new information before I turned to Tanjiro, "Tanjiro... can you smell any strange or unique scent from me?"

Tanjiro blinked twice before nodding, "I do." He relayed, "But not until you're standing quite close to me..."

_'That was unexpected—'_

"Miyasha-san," Shinobu called out my name after a beat of silence, making me turn towards her, "Does that mean when Muzan attacked you in Asakusa, he was not actually targeting you?"

"Of course not." I replied, "It was rather a... distraction. I was just at the wrong place at the right time."

"You were attacked by _Kibutsuji_?" Hiroshi asked lowly, his tone sending shivers of fear and guilt down my spine.

"Yes, I w-was." I cursed myself for stuttering, his aura flaring into an icy blast wasn't helping either, "I was just walking down a street when Muzan scratched the back of my neck— injecting a few drops of blood into my body."

Hitoshi scoffed, his face etching with worry as his own aura whirled in a storm, "But why did you go there in the first place?"

"I didn't know this wo—"

"You can feel the auras of the living organisms near you," Hiroshi interrupted me, "Then you must have felt him too, right? Then why did you still go?"

"Because I felt Tanjiro's aura flare." I shot back with slight irritation, "I was worried that Muzan will do something drastic— I couldn't just _not_ go."

"Miyasha," Kagaya called my name, snapping my attention back to him, "Can you describe Kibutsuji's aura to us?"

"I may try, Oyakata-sama." I honestly answered, "But since a demon's aura is much more... concentrated than of a human's, I may be a bit vague in its description."

"Concentrated?" Obanai asked, speaking for the first time throughout the meeting.

"Yes," I replied, "In a way, much more condensed and centered than a human's. A person's aura, as I have speculated, is unique to their own— it is coiled within their body, only flaring when they are emotionally stimulated. This is why I cannot normally estimate one's overall power until I am in a battle with them."

"A demon's however... is very complicated" I continued, "A demon's aura is very concentrated— almost like a void. The more powerful a demon is, the denser and heavier their aura feels. This abnormality of their aura unfortunately hinders me from even speculating what emotions they are feeling— the only thing I can actually deduce from their aura is how much power they might hold and their physical position."

"Do all demons' auras feel the same, then?" Uzui asked, leaning over Rengoku in excitement, "Can't you differentiate two demons?"

"I can, but only when I'm a little bit l familiar with their aura or when I'm in their presence for more than a few minutes." I answered back, "I can also feel their aura from the things they have been in contact with."

"But for Muzan... it goes a little further. He has the heaviest aura I've ever felt— one that almost made me faint the first time I came in contact with it." I looked up towards Kagaya, "His aura... is too dense for me to describe it in any other way. Coiled within to its extreme and very, _very_ old."

"You said you almost fainted the first time you met him—" Sanemi started, his eyes narrowing as he continued, "How many times did you actually meet him?"

"...a few?" I flinched as everyone near me gasped while two glares fixed onto my back.

"What do you mean by 'a few times'?!" Hitoshi asked incredulously, "Just, tell us directly how many times do you mean!"

"...five or six times?" I replied, counting the encounters mentally as I ignored everyone's startled gazes, "I don't know how many times exactly since the first few times I felt his aura, I bolted right out of the town."

"But how did you even encounter him so many times?!" Uzui honestly asked, "We haven't even met him once—"

"Do you know how he looks?" Tokito piped in, while Obanai asked if I knew anything about his current living space.

"I do." I declared a bit loudly to quieten everyone around me, which they thankfully did. "He has almond-shaped, plum red eyes with cat-like pupil, almost sickly pale skin and slightly curly, shoulder-length raven hair." I answered before deciding to add some more details, "He can also shape-shift like many other demons— enabling him to change his form into his female counterpart at will."

"Wait," Hitoshi interrupted me, asking me in disbelief, "You mean he can turn into a _woman_?!"

"Precisely." I affirmed, "And I deduce that he can also transform into a child, since many demons like Nezuko herself, can do so."

"That's problematic then..."

"It really isn't, senpai." I answered back, "He can only change his age and form, but not his overall looks— as far as I know."

"How are you so sure about it?" Obanai asked.

"Because I saw him do that." I half-lied, "Furthermore, there were several records in the police files with people similar to such appearances, so I believe he has been doing this for a long time."

"Police?" Rengoku asked, his expression portraying his surprise, "Are you affiliated with the police, Sarota?"

"Not directly— rather, many of my informants are."

Uzui's eyes sparkled as he asked, "Informants? How many of those do you have?"

"Many." I couldn't help as my lips pulled into a small smirk, "I have informants in various professions; however, many of them are in police and other governmental organisations— though, I do have a few informants in red district area as well as some as civilians in villages and towns."

"That's very flamboyant!" Uzui exclaimed as he looked at me with sparkling eyes.

"Arigato, Hashira-sama." I genuinely thanked him before continuing, "Through my aforementioned informants, I have collected a lot of information on demons— especially the ones in the urban area, with Muzan being one of them."

"Do you know where Muzan is living currently?" Kagaya asked in his serene voice.

"Unfortunately not now." I answered honestly, "The latest I know is from more than a month ago, when I and Tanjiro met him at the Asakusa city where he was visiting with his family on a—"

"Family?!" Everyone questioned, making me want to sigh.

_'Let me finish at least...'_

"Yes, family." I simply answered, "He has a human family while he lives under the alias of Kobayashi Tsukihiko."

"He even has a daughter." Tanjiro spoke up, his voice very grave as he continued, "When I met him in Asakusa... he was carrying his human daughter."

"How... can that be so?" Shinobu frowned, "As a demon... shouldn't his spawn be a demon as well?"

"Maybe he married a widow." Hitoshi threw out to which I immediately disagreed.

"No," I denied, "Kobayashi Rei, his wife, has only married once— I have confirmed this from the police records."

"That means that's his own daughter?" Hitoshi blurted out, not believing it himself.

"I think so, but..." I shifted my eyes back Kagaya, "That might also not be true."

"Actually, Rei's family — the Nakamuras — have quite a few influential people in their family members." I explained, "There has been several rumours about the woman Rei herself, which were viciously suppressed down by her family."

"Rumours?" Shinobu leaned in towards me, her right arm almost touching my left, "Do you mean she...?"

"No, no, not like that—" I instantly denied, "Rei was engaged to someone else before Muzan and well... a tragedy occurred and her fiancé passed away. There were many rumours that claimed her family executed him— especially since they rushed in with her marriage after that, but... I may have a different theory about that."

"You mean she was pregnant before she married him?" Obanai asked.

"All I say is that it is plausible." I replied, "Especially since her daughter's aura felt completely human to me."

Tanjiro nodded beside me as he agreed, "Yes, she has a human's smell, too."

"All this information, however, is almost a month and a half old." I confessed, "Since I was unable to contact my informants, I have no idea where he or his family is right now— though I sincerely hope Rei and her daughter is safe."

"Kibutsuji used his family for survival," Shinobu gravely stated, "So that he can hide himself in human society, but since Tanjiro-kun identified him..."

"...He very well might have killed them and disappeared." Obanai completed for her.

"I... did inform the police that something like this might happen." I said gravely, "Though... I'm not sure if they were successful at relocating them or not."

"Miyasha," Kagaya started, "If you get any information about them, please inform us as well."

"I will, Oyakata-sama." I answered, "And if I may ask— may I visit some of my informants before I officially start with my Demon slaying missions? I wanted to gather information regarding Muzan, so I cou—"

"Forgive me for interfering, Oyakata-sama," Hiroshi suddenly popped up, "But I would sincerely request you to not allow her to leave on such self-appointed missions, especially for now since she has just recovered from her injuries."

"I'm extremely sorry to say so, but I disagree." I shot back, glowering at Hiroshi while he didn't even look at me, "I've completely recovered and I assure you I can handle—"

"You have just recently become a demon slayer, Miyasha."

"But that doesn't mean I do not have any experience. I have being hunting demons for four years now."

Hiroshi glared at me when he heard that, his eyes boring into mine as he asked, "But Muzan did attack you, right?"

"He didn't know I was a dokuchi!"

"But after attacking you he most likely would have realized, wouldn't he?" I didn't reply to his question, "He must have gotten your blood on his fingers and if he did, then he must know about your existence. Without any weapons and proper training, you're nothing but a very simple target for the demons right now."

"I agree with Hiroshi." Kagaya said after a beat of silence, "However, Miyasha's request is also sound— therefore, I'll allow you to leave, Miyasha, but only when you are in a better health and while a Hashira accompanies you."

"Hai, Oyakata-sama." I replied, my irritation with Hiroshi still bubbling inside me.

_'He really had to open his big, dumb, __**overprotective mouth—**__'_

"Miyasha-san," Shinobu's voice broke me out of my inner cursing, "I had a question regarding the incident in Asakusa— because of your blood, you were able to stop the Demon transformation, correct? Does that mean your blood, when injected directly into others, can do the same?"

"I... am not sure, Shinobu-san." I frowned as I thought back to the incident, "My blood may have been able to stop the transformation, but the only reason for that was because Muzan inserted only a few drops of his blood into my body which disintegrated when it entered my veins— not to mention I still did need a wisteria shot to aid me in it."

"Your blood..." Hitoshi stared at me intently, making a feeling of dread grow in my chest, "Can disintegrate a demon's blood?"

"Yes... it turns corrosive in nature when it comes in contact with demon blood or flesh, melting them till they burn and disintegrate while producing strange white flames." I explained.

"Does that mean," Hitoshi fully turned towards me, his bluish-green eyes boring into me, "That demon blood can affect you just as much?"

I froze, not knowing how to answer it without highlighting the biggest backdrop of my blood.

Shinobu blinked in confusion before her own eyes widened, "Can you not turn into a demon, Miyasha-san?" Shinobu asked, reaching the same realization as Hitoshi, "You... What would happen to you if you came in contact with a considerable amount of demon blood?"

"I..." I gulped, feeling trapped, "I'll die." There, I said it.

"_What_—"

"My blood reacts with demon blood at any given position... including within my own body." I explained further, shifting my eyes back to my hand, "If... a good amount of demon blood is inserted into me, then my body will melt off just as my blood does to the demons."

I closed my eyes, feeling overwhelmed as I felt everyone's gaze on me— the worst being Tanjiro and the Twin's as I could feel their worry and anger filled gazes boring into my side.

"Miyasha..." Kagaya softly said my name, however I started speaking first.

"I assure you it won't be an issue, Oyakata-sama." I opened my eyes, staring directly at Kagaya, "With proper care, I have not being severely harmed for the last four years; I assure you that I won't let this be a serious issue in the future either."

I noticed Hiroshi opening his mouth to counter me but stopped once Oyakata-sama put a finger on his lips to silence any incoming commotion.

"...I will take your word on it, Miyasha." Kagaya finally replied, smiling sincerely, "However, there will always be a place open for you in the Kakushi, if it turns too much for you. Shinobu will help you regarding that, and I am always here, if you ever have any issue."

His kind words made my eyes water... the dread in my chest gradually uncoiling and becoming almost non-existent. "Thank you for your kindness, Oyakata-sama..." I bowed down to show my respect, "Please forgive me for not being able to return your kindness with any relevant information..."

"Any information shared today was valuable, Miyasha— do not undermine its worth." Kagaya smiled, "Thank you for sharing your valuable sources with us. I hope you carry on as such in the future."

_'This man... was just something else.'_ I thought absent-mindedly, focusing back as Kagaya summarized the meeting as a conclusion— this man had a way with words and honestly, I respected him a lot for that, _'Not to mention he has the decency to not bring up my backdrop in his summary.'_

"Miyasha," He called me again once he concluded, "I apologize for not telling you this earlier, but I had asked for your presence today beyond the purpose of this meeting." He turned to his left side, resulting in his daughter taking out a strange whistle type of thing and blowing it.

_'What does he mean...? What is she doi—' _My heart skipped several beats as a bird's shadow flew above us after a few seconds; the magnificent avian's snow white feathers reflecting in the sunlight as it landed gracefully on Kagaya's awaiting arm.

_'It's an owl...' _I dumbly thought as I stared at that absolutely _gorgeous _creature— it almost looked like it came out of a Harry Potter book and God fucking dammit,_ I was an absolute_ _fan of it._

"Since you have joined in later as a demon slayer," Kagaya began, "We unfortunately didn't had any fully trained Kasugai Crow at our immediate disposal. I hope you wouldn't have any issue if Shiori offers you her service instead."

"Th-That owl is for me?!" I blurted out, my words vibrating with excitement as I grinned from ear to ear.

"Yes, she is." Kagaya's smile widened at my childishly excited tone, "Her name is Shiori..." He softly relayed as the bird took her flight and landed on the ground right in front of me, staring at me with her tangerine orbs.

"You're so beautiful..." I cooed as I laid my palms open on the ground, smiling as she slowly moved towards me and accepted my offer— sweetly snuggling into my small hands, "You're so small! So cute!" I exclaimed, as she hooted back.

_'I'm so much in love—'_

"I'm glad you like her." Kagaya stated, making me break out of my fangirling. I blushed heavily as I noticed everyone smiling at me— even Sanemi and Obanai seemed amused at my action.

"I-I apologize for my previous acts."

Kagaya simply grinned, "The rest of the formalities will be conducted within tomorrow— and regarding the weapons, I have wrote a quick letter to the craftsman your teacher had previously consulted for your weapons. He will be here within a few days for your specific requests."

"Thank you so much for all this, Oyakata-sama." I genuinely thanked, my tone still light and bouncy due to the residue excitement still running in my system.

Kagaya smiled serenely as he replied, "Welcome to the Demon Slayer Corps, my child."

My heart skipped a beat at his term of endearment— and honestly speaking, there wasn't a bone in my body that could disagree with the fact how right it sounded.

_'Is it right, though?' _I mused as we bowed one last time before being dismissed, _'Does it really matter now— after all I had screwed up?'_

* * *

_**And there's the new chapter! Phew!**_

_**I'm really sorry it took so much time— a lot things happened in my life and I'm hella disturb due to all that, lol.**_

_**One of my wattpad friend bitched about our other friend to start a drama; it ended up me being involved and me kicking that bitch outta the group while she still keeps on trying to cause trouble. And then one of old highschool friend decides to be a bitch too and humiliate whenever she could— I ended up ignoring her but her continuous messages are just too much.**_

_***Sighs* Not worth it, lol.**_  
_**Anyway! Regarding this chapter— this is where I slowly start developing Miyasha's overall slayer persona! And yes, she's not invincible as she first sounded! There many other backdrops due to her abnormality too and that, we'll explore gradually throughout the story.**_

_**》****Taishou Secret!****《**_  
_**Hitoshi is the louder twin while Hiroshi is the quieter one— but guess who gets embarrassed more easily? Of course, the louder twin—Hitoshi! That's why he is teased so much by Miyasha and Hiroshi; especially since he gets very shy when he talks about girls~**_

_**Now, onto the Review Replies!**_

**Guest****: _I'm really glad you like the chapters and Miyasha herself! I hope you like this chapter as well! Thank you so much for your lovely replies (^w^)_**

**samuelpatricio96: _Not really... At least I don't have any plan about it either way. _**

**natonatonii****:_ Aww, really feel ya! take your time with reading this_**_**— this book ain't going anywhere xD And damn, you already figured out one of the major backdrops of her fighting style! I am going to explain that side of it in this arc only along with the aspect of her breathing style**__**— for now, the only thing I can say is that she is still being indecisive about it, but she does have an idea that she is considering. Also, I love the name you gave to our adorable stooges**__**— the Triple Trouble trio xD Suits them accurately! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much and I love your lengthy comments! So never be shy about it! ^w^**_

**Einklley****:_ Well... I do have a lot planned for our dearest Fire pillar and wind pillar and unfortunately that's all I can say without spoiling :) And about Shinobu_**_**— I actually did consider it too. The only reason I didn't explore that aspect yet because of two reasons: 1) Shinobu is too good at masking her emotions. The only reason she even showed her unmasked emotions to Tanjiro in the manga/anime was because she was called out by him. Miyasha, however, didn't do any such thing yet. 2) It had been a week since the meeting, giving Shinobu plenty of time to recover her cool. Your point was absolutely valid too, actually**__**—Shinobu should have confronted Miyasha about her believes, and she will; just at a later date. She is still recovering and not to mention Shinobu does agree with a part of her **__**reasoning just as other Hashiras do. I'll highlight their reasoning to avoid talking about her believes on a later chapter and I really hope that'll clear it up for you! And about the twins**__**— don't worry, you'll see a lot of them throughout this fanfic!**_

**Sappuis:**_** That's 'Aniki' dear! Aneki is the female form of the word 'Aniki', meaning elder sister and elder brother respectively!**_

**onigiriri**:**_ I'm really glad you are liking this fanfic so far! I hope you like this chapter as well! thank you so much for your sweet comments! ^_^_**

****T**suki:_ Aww, Thank you so much for your sweet review! I really hope you enjoy this chapter!_**

_**And that's all for this chapter, folks! **__**Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	36. Chapter 33

"Now Miyasha... why the hell did you not tell us about this _**very important **_detail about your blood?!"

"Can we talk about it a bi—" I tried cutting the argument short and walking away, but Hitoshi wasn't having it.

"Do you care so little for us?"

"I-It's not like that, Toshi-senpai!" I stuttered as he looked down at me with his familiar blue-green gaze, hurt evident in his eyes beneath all that anger, "It's just... I was gonna tell you... once I actually settled in with all this." I admitted honestly, feeling guilty for hiding something like this from them.

The meeting had just ended and Oyakata-sama had dismissed us a while ago as he went inside to do his usual work.

While out here, both the newly-appointed snow pillars immediately jumped onto the chance of questioning me as soon as he left.

"Why didn't you tell us about it earlier? In fact, when did you even got to know about it?" Hitoshi questioned back, crossing his arms as he stared me down intimidatingly.

"Well... a few years back...?"

"...how many years is your _**few**_ years?"

"...four." The receiving glares that fixed on me almost made me bolt the other way around.

"Did Ojiisan know about this?"

"Of course he did." I replied, "Who do you think told Oyakata-sama about my blood?" I asked rhetorically, still feeling infuriated over sensei's apparent betrayal.

_'Though... I do get why he did that.'_ I mean, if I was in his place, I most likely would have done the same too... maybe.

"Wait, what?" Hiroshi blurted out, his eyebrows creasing in a frown as he evaluated my words, "You mean Oyakata-sama called—"

"Yes. Oyakata-sama already knew about my blood; I was not called here just because I was in that mountain mission— it was nothing but a coincidence, actually. A really convenient one, now that I think about it..."

"Wait, wait, so Ojiisan knew about your blood and told Oyakata-sama about it as well?" Hitoshi moved back to look between his twin and me, his eyes portraying his confusion effectively.

_'He's so much more expressive than before...'_

"Sent a letter requesting to keep an eye on me, to be more precise." I shot back, huffing as I continued, "I didn't knew about it either, trust me."

"And why the hell didn't you nor Ojiisan tell us about all this?"

"I... didn't want to worry you. Hey, don't look at me like that!" I huffed as Hitoshi crossed his arms again and called my reasoning bullshit.

"Give us _**one **_reason we shouldn't worry about you! You have an ability that can get you killed—"

"If not fully covered!" I cut Hitoshi off, not taking the chance for other Hashiras to hear and underestimate me too, "Not to mention only my own blood does that— which means even if Demon blood comes in contact with my skin, it won't burn me or anything."

"But being wounded would do, won't it?" Hiroshi's quietly asked; his serene voice and blue-green gaze making me almost feel like I was in an interrogation.

_'It won't be anything new though.' _I took in a deep breath and replied, "Not if I take proper care." closing my eyes immediately after to calm myself down.

It's kinda funny how little I value anyone else's opinion about me but if these two look even a little bit disappointed with me, I feel as if I failed the whole universe.

"Knowing you, I won't count on it." Hiroshi pitched in, making a vein pop on my head with his implication.

"Excuse you, I've been living on my own for four years just fine!" I glared at him as I noticed him smiling slyly.

"With the level of self-preservation and self-care you practice, I'm surprised how you're even alive." Hiroshi taunted back, making Hitoshi nod in agreement.

I felt my left eye twitch with irritation, "Rich coming from someone who got injured and sent to the Butterfly Estate within the first few months of joining the Corps!"

"And look at you— hasn't even joined the Corps properly but was lying unconscious for a week in the same Estate!" Hitoshi replied to me this time, making me stuttering as even I knew he was low-key right.

"I-I can handle myself!" I blurted out, finding myself on an almost dead end.

"Who are you trying to fool, again? You need a shit ton of training, _**little one**_." Hiroshi teased me, making me blush as he taunted me about the one thing I was immensely insecure about.

"Who are you calling little?! I'm almost eighteen!" I bite out, narrowing my eyes in mock-anger.

"...well, if we didn't know better—" Hiroshi started before Hitoshi interrupted him by smacking him upside the head.

"How _dare you_?! I'm not _**short**_! You're just gigantic, you dumbass!" I huffed, pretending to be angry to cover up the actual insecurity I was feeling.

I mean, I was literally the tallest girl in my class in my past life; but in this one...

But of course, they won't know about it, would they? Not to mention I can't do anything about it either.

"Stop patronizing her, Hiroshi!" Hitoshi scolded his younger twin, making a wry smile appear on my lips as Hiroshi rubbed the back of his head rather begrudgingly, "And now, back to the topic— whatever happened, happened. We'll talk about these details _**later**_." Hitoshi turned to me, still watching the other Hashiras from the corner of his eyes, "For now, we have another mission and I don't want us to be late for it."

I silently watched as he turned to the Hashiras— bowing and giving a brief farewell as he dragged Hiroshi to do the same.

"Do you not really trust me about this?" I asked softly as they passed by me.

"It's not about that, Miya..." Hitoshi sighed, turning to me as he patted me gently, "It'll be irresponsible of us as your br— seniors to just..."

"...I can handle it, you know?" I honestly felt like a broken record at this point, "You don't have to worry this much." I reminded them again as I followed them out the headquarters; Shinobu and Tanjiro following behind us quietly as we three conversed.

"You don't even have a sword right now, Miyasha! Let alone have practice with it—"

"I don't even use one..." I grumbled.

"Miyasha..." Hitoshi looked at me disapprovingly, confusing me as I blurted out a 'What?' at him, "Stop making such crude jokes publicly!"

"Wh-What...?" I looked at him strangely, noticing his eyes widen and blush— Wait... "_**What**_?! I-I'm not saying anything like _that_!" I pressed a hand against my mouth to stop myself from laughing; noticing how Hitoshi had turned completely red, "I honestly don't use swords! I-I use... fans..." I tried to explain, watching amusingly as Hitoshi turned even redder.

"I-I didn't kn-know that!" He blurted out, feeling even shyer as he heard Shinobu laughing from the back.

"Yeah... that's why your first thought went to somewhere _**dark—**_" I tried teasing him before he interrupted me by calling out my in complete mortification.

"So, you use fans, huh?" Hiroshi started after a beat of silence, his blue-green eyes staring down at me as he raised his left eyebrow, "Aren't they near-ranged weapons?"

_'Fuck.'_

"...I have my speed to—" I tried covering up before I was interrupted by him again.

"So, that's how you got injured, didn't you?" Hiroshi deduced, narrowing his eyes as I took my time to reply.

"Not... exactly." I turned my gaze away, feeling uncomfortable as I could feel their irritation with me.

"Miyasha..."

"Look I..." How can I explain this without sounding like a bloody idiot? "...may need some training. I know you are right but... trust me, I can handle it. What I did was not right and I'm really sorry for hiding it from you but... I just didn't want to worry you two. I was not sure about it myself— still ain't much, if I were to be honest and then you both have your own responsibilities too..."

"...you are not burdening us with it, you know?" Hitoshi asked rhetorically, his tone much softer and calmer than before.

"I know, but still. I... I think I can handle it on my own, trust me on that. I'm not a child anymore, you know? I did live four years on my own and without any swords."

He sighed, "We know, Miyasha but—"

"Please just... let me do this on my own, we need the informa—"

"Why so persistent about going alone, huh? Trying to hide your lover or something?" Hiroshi piped in, ruining the whole serious mood again as I stuttered out my reply.

"O-Of course not!"

"Your voice cracked."

"_**Out of surprise**_!" I exclaimed, glaring at Hiroshi as he raised an eyebrow at me, "I just want to do my work in peace!"

"And you think we won't let you?" Hiroshi deadpanned as I answered with the same deadpan tone, "Knowing you two, no."

Hitoshi pointed at me with a vain pop, "Excuse _**you**_, we ar—"

"Shoo!" I pushed Hitoshi's elbow lightly, "Just go! You have a mission right now, don't you?!" I pushed him again, trying to end this stupid argument before it started all over again.

_'Not to mention it doesn't looks like these two will get my point of view any time soon.'_

"We'll be back in a few days." Hitoshi started as I tried pushing him off to the other path, "Don't even think about going without us—"

"We'll see about that." I answered vaguely, avoiding to say anything else as Hiroshi suddenly pulled me by the back of my haori, "H-Hey!"

"No, we won't—" Hitoshi started as Hiroshi interrupted, "It'll be fine; we'll be back within a few days anyway." Hitoshi ruffled my hair, smiling slyly as I smacked his hand away, "She has her rehabilitation training, too, on top of it."

"Is that a challenge?" I asked half-jokingly as I glared at Hiroshi's hand hovering over my head, "And keep your hands off of my hair, Hiro-senpai!"

"You cut your hair, eh?" Hitoshi asked softly as Hiroshi teasingly brought his hand down towards my head again— making me jump out of his reach, "You look very... adorable."

"...You make it sound like a bad thing."

"It's not a bad thing..." Hitoshi averted his eyes, smiling wryly as he replied, "It's just... difficult for us to not worry about you when you look this... _adorable_."

"...I want my long hair back, now." I deadpanned, making the twins as well as Shinobu and Tanjiro — who finally caught up with us — chuckle at my misery.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Miyasha-san...?" Aoi looked at me unsurely, her eyes trailing my figure as I approached the training room, "What about your joints? You said you still felt pain in them?"

"They are feeling better now, Aoi-chan." I smiled reassuringly at her, "Thank you for your medicines— those really helped in reducing the pain."

"I'm glad they did, but—"

"Trust me, dear, I'm fine." I patted the younger girl, my smile widening as a blush grew on her pale cheeks, "It has been quite a while since all that happened, darling! Believe me when I say I know my body quite well to know when I should get up and start working."

"I-I understand." Aoi said rather dejectedly, making me feel a pang of guilt in my chest.

"Hey, Aoi-chan!" I called her as she opened the door, "Thank you so much for taking care of me." I smiled brightly, closing my eyes to add onto the effect.

"Y-You're welcome." She stuttered, shutting the door off loudly after her, saying that she'll be back in a few minutes.

_'She's too cute.' _I thought absent-mindedly as I observed the empty training room— it was like a small dojo kinda room covered with tatami mats around all the sides of the room while a rather small table was situated in the middle of the room.

"Is that a... tea table?" I wondered out loud, a foggy memory of a... tea throwing activity etching behind the back of my mind— _'Wait, it's for that tea throwing training, right?'_

"Hai, Mi-ya-sha-san~" Shinobu sang out my name, making me jump as I turned to see her leaning against the wooden doors, "Those are for the reflex training! But... what are you doing here?" She asked me innocently but her eyes shining with amusement told me otherwise.

_'When did she even...' _  
Yeah... I'm better off not asking that.

"I-I came here to t-train." I internally cursed myself for stuttering, my heart still beating rather fast from that unexpected jumpscare, "It has been a good few days since I'm feeling better, so I thought..."

"But Miyasha-san..."

"I'm not trying to one-up Toshi-senpai and Hiro-senpai, trust me, Shinobu-san." I immediately reassured, "It's just that I'm kinda... bored." I looked away, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden, "I have done all that you and Aoi have asked of me— and I was really hoping you could see how much I already have recovered..."

The thing is, I was low-key forbidden to participate in the recovery training till I 'fully recovered' from bleeding myself out, since that whole Hashira-meeting-catastrophe.

But without this training, I really couldn't leave the estate either— not only would I not get the seal of approval from Shinobu, but I'll most likely be ratted-out to Oyakata-sama before I even start the information gathering.

_'Not to mention I'd rather like to keep the good rapport I've formed with Shinobu here.'_

"Are you sure you're feeling well enough for this, Miyasha-san?" Shinobu frowned, her smooth face smearing with line of worry, "I would really not want to deteriorate your health further..."

"I am." I reassured, "I apologize for worrying you all so much..."

"Ah, that you really did when you suddenly collapsed in the middle of the meeting." Shinobu's eyes shone with amusement as she continued, "Not to mention your rather strange acts really got Aoi-chan winded up."

"I-I apologize for that as well." I felt my cheeks burn as we heard the door open and Kanao appear with the boys just behind her, "I... really should have given her some warning before she found me like that."

"Indeed." She agreed, "The position of that knife didn't help the notion either."

"Kn-Knife?" Zenitsu questioned, his eyes darting between me and Shinobu before I cleared his doubt; "We were talking about my hair cutting incident." I reminded him, smiling sheepishly as I noticed Tanjiro shaking his head at me, "I... had rather scared you all that day, didn't I?"

"Cutting hair like that isn't safe, Aneki!" Tanjiro huffed, before finally noticing that I was _**here**_, "Wait, what are you doing here, Aneki?"

Zenitsu's eyes widened before sparkling with excitement, "Are you here to train with us, too?!"

"Yes, she is." Shinobu answered for me, winking at me as she continued, "I hope you won't mind if I stay today to see the progress you all have made!"

"Of course not, Shinobu-san!" Tanjiro answered kindly as Zenitsu enthusiastically nodded behind him.

Another thing that I noticed recently— the recovery training was going a bit too... _**fast.**_

I mean, I know it had been a good two weeks since the meeting but didn't the recovery training arc lasted a month or so? And didn't Zenitsu joined in much later than the other two?

_'But here...' _I looked towards the three stooges as they went forward to their respective training area, _'Zenitsu recovered quite a lot faster.' _I frowned, trying to remember the manga plot, _'I really think Zenitsu joined in later for the training in the manga... Is this plot deviation because of my presence?'_

"Miyasha-san!" Aoi called for my attention, "Since you'll be joining us from today, let me explain the process for you."

"Hai, Aoi-chan."

"You'll start over there." Aoi pointed towards the three futon bases lying on the tatami mats, "The girls will make your bodies flexible again after having been bed-ridden for so long." She then turned towards the tea table where Kanao was sitting, "Once you've completed it, you'll proceed for the reflex training. The cups on the table contain medicated water. The objective is to throw that water onto each other— but if your opponent blocks your cup before you can pick it up, you can't move that cup."

"Move!" I immediately pressed a hand against my lips, suppressing my laughter as I witnessed Tanjiro's rather comical face as Kanao drenched him in the medicated water again.

"Lastly, we'll do the full-body training. In simpler terms, you'll be playing tag against me and Kanao." Aoi concluded, finally turning towards me, "Do you have any questions, Miyasha-san?"

"Please go easy on little ol' me." I jokingly replied as I moved towards the futons, feeling a dread grow in my stomach as I imagined the pain I'll feel because of my lack of any kind of exercise or yoga.

* * *

"Damn, that felt _so good!_" I stretched out as I got up, grinning ear-to-ear as I bowed to Kanao and Aoi, thanking them for the wonderful workout, "You both have been one of the most amazing mentors! Thank you all for the wonderful training today!" I gave the five girls a close-eyed smile, feeling more refreshed than I ever did.

The recovery training was so damn easy and satisfying! Even though it had caused me some pain, it had helped me open up my joints properly and brought my confidence back in my abilities.

_'Not to mention it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be.'_

"Y-Your performance today was impeccable..." Aoi stared at me in awe and suspicion, her light blue eyes shining as she took my whole position in, "Are you sure your joints—?"

"Yes, I am, dearie." I replied off-handedly as I stretched my arms once again, "The flexibility training actually helped me a lot! I indeed am feeling sore all over— but it's the good kind of sore!" I reassured, noticing how the boys stared at me with disbelief written all over their faces.

Meanwhile the girls looked surprised but rather proud at my immense progress that occurred all in one day.

"How did you even..." Zenitsu looked the most conflicted out of the three, "You were just injured a few days ago— how could you even run that fast?!" He pointed aggressively at me, "Even your flexibility—!"

"Because I have the full _control _over my body." I vaguely relayed, watching Shinobu from the corner of my eyes, "I trained my body daily since I was a rather young child— giving me a good control over the functions and processes of my body, Itsu-kun." I turned towards them, patting them gently as I smiled serenely at their gloomy expressions, "All you need to do is practice... in the _right _direction."

"Eh?" Tanjiro frowned, "Right... direction?"

_'Should I tell them?' _I contemplated for a second before deciding, well, why not?

"Have you tried maintaining total concentration breath throughout the day and night?" I directly questioned, staring at their bemused faces, "You do know its function is more than just boosting your attack, don't you? It helps you get a hold over your breathing, which allows you to control the amount of oxygen you send towards your specific limbs— boosting your attack strength, speed and even healing at times."

"Hai, Miyasha-san is right!" Shinobu supported me as she noticed the three male slayers staring at me in disbelief, "You can even decrease the bleeding from your wound if you practice enough!"

"So, all we have to do is... practice the total concentrated breathing all the time?" Zenitsu asked sceptically.

"Hai." Shinobu smiled mischievously, "Even during your sleep!"

"Wait, how do we even do that?!"

"Practice." I non-chalantly replied as I slowly started leaving the room, "Practice makes a person perfect, my dear. All you need to do is grind."

"How long has it been since you've been doing this, Miyasha-san?" Shinobu asked me suddenly, her question sounding rather vague in its context.

"Since I was four." I answered, assuming she was asking about my overall training, "Shigeno-sensei taught me these since I was four." I shrugged, not knowing what else to say, "I did train with Toshi-senpai and Hiro-senpai over time, so my training was pretty advanced since the very beginning."

"Ah, Kinomiya-san did mention you were their junior." Shinobu replied as she followed me out to the hallway, the hallway covered with orange rays of the sun filtering through the windows, "Did you learn the snow breathing too, then?"

"Not... really." I turned my gaze away, "I was rather stubborn about not wanting to learn it."

"Eh? Why?"

"As I said before, back then... I was not exactly comfortable with... you know, _killing._" I took in a deep breath, "Anyway, do I have your approval over the completion of my recovery, Ha-shi-ra-sama~?" I sang out her title the same way she did with my name this morning, smiling at her hopefully as she nodded in answer.

"You did complete your rehabilitation training with a remarkable speed, Miyasha-san." she smiled softly as she said, "I have no reason stop you~" she replied in her usual sing song voice, before turning to ask me softly, "I hope you won't mind me asking, but... are you planning to learn the snow breathing now?"

"If I can help it, then no." I decided to answer honestly, "I do have a plan for my breathing technique dilemma though."

"That's great, Miyasha-san." Shinobu nodded, smiling as we reached the hospital ward of the estate, "If you need any help with training or medicine, we Hashiras will always be here to help." She kindly offered, smiling as I entered my room, "Kinomiya-san care about you a lot... so please don't shy away from them either."

"Thank you, Shinobu-san." I softly smiled at the older female, "I'll... remember that." I bow to her as she leaves, hiding my frowning expression as I mewled over her words.

_'Why did she... tell me that?' _I pondered as changed my clothes, _'Is she hoping to make me her tsugoku or something? Or did she say all this because she knows what I am gonna do next?'_

I looked back at the now closed door, my expression creasing in a frown as I tried to deduce the motive behind her words. But honestly? I couldn't.

_'After all, she was always one of the most complicated characters in the KNY universe.' _I thought wryly, gathering in my fresh clothes and towels as I prepared to take a bath, _'Maybe I shouldn't think too much into it for now... She doesn't exactly has anything to hold against me, yet anyway.'_

I shook my head, trying my best to clear away these useless thoughts— there was no use over thinking about them now... especially when I cannot actually do anything about it. For now, the best thing would be to shut up and prepare for the future, that's it.

And well, that's a bloody issue on its own too.

* * *

"Miya-nee, Miya-nee! The swordsmith has arrived to meet you!" The little twintail girl announced the next morning, gently tugging the sleeve of my haori just like her pigtailed cousin, "Let's go! Let's go—"

"Matte, matte, Sumi-chan!" I called out desperately, "Let me at least change my clothes, dear! I just came back from the training."

"Oh," she finally took notice of my sweaty and dishevelled self, immediately apologizing as I patted her and entered my room.

It was still very early in the morning— hardly seven, if my sense of time was remotely right — and I had just arrived from my self-training that I had started again since last night.

_'It feels great to finally return to my old routine.' _I thought absent-mindedly as I shed my soiled kimono, gently folding my dirty clothes into an orderly fashion so that I could give these to Aoi on my way out, _'The recovery training yesterday actually helped me a lot to get back into it though, if I were to be honest.'_

Not to mention it sure helped in ruining any kind of doubt I had in my abilities for the while.

_'It's good to know I can take a few days off and not have trouble getting back into yoga.' _I smiled and shook my head, knowing damn well that if I did take such frequent breaks then I sure as hell won't be able to get back into them as easily as I did this time, _'Not to mention this was actually my first time in quite a while...'_

"I'm ready, Sumi-chan~" I declared as I opened the door of my room, noticing the three cousins blinking at me eagerly, "Oh, ohayo Naho-chan, Kiyo-chan!"

"Ohayo, Nesan!" They chorused, smiling at me brightly as I patted them with one hand, "Give us your dirty clothes, we'll wash them!"

"Oh, you don—"

"It's our turn to do laundry today!" Kiyo proudly declared, "That's why we are here to collect any clothes due for washing!"

"Ah, okay then. Here you go." I handed the clothes to them, patting them again as I thanked them for their hardwork and wonderful help, "I'll see you later— keep up the good work!"

"You're very kind, Nesan!" Sumi complimented me, smiling brightly as I gently ruffled her hair.

"Not more than you dearies!" I chuckled along with her, enjoying our small talk as we made our way through the hallway.

_'I wonder which swordsmith it would be...' _I thought wryly, _'Knowing my luck, it'll be that Hotaru guy...'_

And knowing my luck, I'll most likely get on his hit list pretty fast— faster than even Tanjiro maybe.

_'That'll be a damn tiresome_ issue_.' _I scoffed internally, before entering the yard with Sumi guiding me ahead.

"Ohayo... Swordsmith-sama." I greeted the unknown figure in front of me, trying my best to remember if I knew him from the manga or if he was someone new, "I am Sarota Miyasha, at your service." I bowed low, showing my respect to the seemingly older man.

"Ohayo, Sarota-chan!" he brightly replied back, his pale orange _hyottoko_ mask jiggling strangely as he nodded at me with... appreciation? "You've grown into a fine young woman, I see!"

"E-Eh?"

"I am Hassaku Haru," he introduced himself, "I am the man who forged your fans, Sarota-chan!" He declared proudly, "The former snow pillar Koji, your teacher, had sent me a letter years ago— requesting me to make a pair of nichirin fans for you along with a pair of holsters that you could strap onto your limbs. I really hope you were satisfied with your blades?"

_'He's so... cheery?' _I thought with a sweatdrop as he looked eagerly at me like a young child, _'He's better than Tanjiro's crazy swordsmith, though—'_

"They are very smooth and easy to use, Hassaku-san." I smiled at him kindly, "Thank you so much for forging them for me." I bowed again.

"Don't fret about it, my child! It was a very interesting challenge for me, I must say." He waved his hands in a casually dismissive way, "Also, do you have your fans on you right now? I'll like to see how they are holding up."

"I do, actually." I slowly removed my haori and showed him the fans in the holster attached on my biceps, "I hope you won't mind if I remo—"

"Oh my, the holsters are in such poor conditions!" He wailed, immediately caressing the holsters as soon as I removed and handed them to him, "They need to be polished and renewed! Although your fans are in a _much _better condition— even after six years!"

"It has been that long, eh?" I wondered out loud without realizing it.

"It is." Haru replied back, "You have maintained the fans well but have neglected the holsters, child! The holsters are a very important part of your weapon too!"

"I... understand. Please forgive my negligence." I apologized sincerely, "I really didn't... take much notice of them, sorry."

"It's alright for the first time, I guess." He said after a beat of silence, still staring at the slightly rusted but quite a bit dirty holsters, "Regardless of the holsters, your fans are in a brilliant condition— a chip here and there but nothing not salvageable." His pale orange hyottoko mask turning to me, "So, do you want me to make a new pair or salvage your old fans into a new pair; one more in-tune with your... ability?"

"I... think it'll be better if you, um, _salvage _my fans into a better one, if it isn't too much trouble...?" I answered unsurely, "I have developed a... sentimental attachment to this one. I really hope you won't mind?"

"Of course I won't, child." He chuckled as he replied, "I'm really happy to see you liked your fans. I'll take your old ones and upgrade them into a new pair!"

"Thank you so much, Hassaku-san!" I brightly smiled at the older man, "And um, are you the one who'll be forging my swords too?"

"Ah, the chief will be handling your swords, child." Haru replied, "I'm here on his behalf to ask you for your preferences about it, actually. Do you want them to be forged just as Kocho-san's?"

"Actually... I had some different idea about it, if you won't mind listening?"

* * *

I chuckled to myself as I waited in the Demon Slayer Headquarters, the excitement of my new weapons keeping me from sitting at one place.

_'I'm feeling like a little kid again.' _I thought amusingly as I tried to suppress my smile, but honestly how could I not? Even Haru-san liked the idea I had pitched in!

Not to mention that they'll be much easier to use along with my blood and their design will be so—

"Sarota-san?" I immediately turned on my heels, the sudden change in momentum causing me to almost fall flat on my face if not for the pair of hands that caught me just at the right moment, "Sarota-san! Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes, Hashira-sama!" I stuttered out in embarrassment, turning my face up slightly to see worried red-gold eyes looking down into mine.

_'Central heterochromia...' _I thought absent-mindedly as Rengoku helped me stand up straight, his expression open and bold as ever.

"Thank you, Hashira-sama—"

"Call me by my given name, Sarota-san!" Rengoku loudly declared, his almond-shaped eyes gleaming down at me, "No need to be so formal!"

"Hai, Rengoku-san." I smiled, noticing — for the first time — how tall he actually was.

_'Well... anyone would seem short if they stand beside someone like Uzui or Himejima all day.' _I thought wryly before Rengoku called for my attention.

"Are you here to see Oyakata-sama, too?" He asked directly.

"Hai." I nodded slightly, "I was actually here to ask his permission for my mission on gathering information about Muzan."

"Already?" He blinked at me in disbelief, "Are you sure you're fully recovered, Sarota-san?"

"Hai, Rengoku-san, I assure you." I smiled reassuringly, "I have even completed the recovery training Shinobu-san had to offer!"

"That's great!" He praised loudly, "Good work, Sarota!"

I chuckled at his bright nature, feeling my awkwardness slowly slip away, "Are you here to report for your mission?"

"Hai!" He brightly answered, "Many of the lower rank slayers are going missing recently and I'm thinking to go and see for myself."

_'Is it... the infinity train one?' _  
But wasn't that supposed to be like, a month or two after the meeting?!

"Do you think these disappearances are caused due to a... Demon Moon?" I cautiously asked.

"Maybe." He simply replied.

"I wish you luck on it then, Rengoku-san. Please return safely."

"I will, Sarota-san." He gave me a close-eyed smile; "Say, Sarota-san— are you Kinomiya's tsuguko?"

"Eh? No...?" I frowned. What made him think that?

"Ah," he nodded to himself before turning over to me, "You see Sarota-san, we Hashiras normally handle the most difficult missions; with every such mission, our chances of survival diminishes bit by bit." He explained kindly, his red-gold eyes staring into my bluish-violet ones, "This is why we Hashiras train our _tsuguko _to take our place once we do not return. For the while, I do not have any tsuguko— that is why I wanted to know... are you interested to be mine?"

"I-I..." I gulped, not knowing how to answer him properly, "I'm sorry, Rengoku-san... but I would rather avoid being one... for now. Please forgive me."

"Ah, it's okay! I completely understand!" Rengoku smiled brightly, his expression depicting nothing but kindness and acceptance, "I understand why you would hesitate— however, if you ever need a training partner or a teacher, I'll always be here to help! Never hesitate to come train with me!"

"Thank you so much, Rengoku-san..." I genuinely thanked him, feeling a strange guilt bloom in my chest, "You're too kind, good sir."

He laughed loudly at my compliment, his expression turning even brighter than before as he thanked me for it.

But that wasn't what was troubling me.

"Say, Sarota-san," Rengoku called me, his tone strangely serious as he looked right into my eyes, "Do you... really think demons can be good, too?"

"Not all, of course." I stated factually, "I mean, demons were once human too, were they not? The only difference between us and them, is that we remember our past and retain our humanity while most of them... were robbed of that by Muzan."

"That's an interesting way of seeing it, Sarota-san." Rengoku finally replied, looking up at the clear sky above us, "Did you... discuss these views with Kocho in last few days?"

"Not really..." I replied honestly, feeling a strange knot forming at the pit of my lower stomach, "You are the first one who asked me about this since the Hashira meeting, Rengoku-san."

"Hm," he hummed, smiling brightly again as he turned back to me, "I see! Don't worry, I respect your views and even find it very interesting! What you say is not wrong, but a rather harsh truth that many of us never considered— it'll be difficult for many if they start thinking the demons as former humans, after all."

"True..." I wryly smiled, "But in the end, one cannot deny that humans have more potential for cruelty than demons ever will."

I averted my gaze, looking at the garden behind us; I could still feel his gaze on me, demanding me to explain further. But honestly? I was not interested in doing so.

"Sarota-san..." Rengoku softly called me name, making me feel even more guilty as I turned to him, "I know we are not as close you and Kinomiya; however, if you ever need anyone to keep your minds off of things or maybe even talk about things, I will be here."

"W-What?" I looked at him strangely, my heart feeling even more constricted as he looked at me with the kindest expression I'd ever seen on anybody.

"I don't know what happened in your past to make you hate humans," he smiled reassuringly at me, "But I assure you— none of us Hashiras or demon slayers are like that!"

_'Do they... think I was abused?' _I wondered bemusingly as I slowly nodded to him, thanking him for his kindness, _'Is... Is this the reason why he and Shinobu are being so kind to me? Was this why Shinobu said all that to me yesterday?'_

_'I... I honestly don't deserve this kindness.' _My heart sank even further as he laughed my comment off, _'If they knew that I have knowledge about the future, would they still show me the same kindness?'_

"Ume! Oyakata-sama is here!" He loudly declared, the smile evident even in his voice.

_'Do I...' _I bowed alongside Rengoku as Oyakata-sama sat down at the porch in front of us, _'...Really have the right to change the future? Or the power to even... save you?'_

Or was it better to not be involved at all?

* * *

_**Guess whose back from the dead?! Me of course!**_

_**I finally got outta my creative burn-out phase and wrote this chapter outta my (lazy) ass! Unfortunately, it kinda turned out longer than expected (oops?)**_

_**Hopefully y'all will like it!**_

_**》**__**Taishou Secret**__**《**__  
__**Hitoshi and Hiroshi are actually quite a bit friendly with the Hashiras! Since they are ones of the oldest and most active demon slayers around, they went in on quite a number of missions with almost all the Hashiras! They have even talked a lot about Miyasha and Shigeno during their free time with the other slayers (and Hashiras).**_

_**And now onto our review replies!**_

**Natonatonii****:**_** Shiori is about the size of both of Miyasha's palms! She's still a growing owl, after all! Her more detailed description will be in the next chapter, so don't worry about it! And about the attention competing part— trust me when I say there will be a lot more competition than those two by the end of this fanfic xD So stay tuned for them! And maybe the triple trio will notice it? Maybe not? Who knows! It'll highly depend on the situation though. Also, I love your questions! Keep 'em coming! They keep me on my toes and help me a lot to understand what you guys are expecting from this fic! **_

**JTFrost****: **_**Aw, thank you so much! I'm really glad you're enjoying this fanfic! I really hope you like this chapter too!**_

**Guest 1: **_**I'm glad you are enjoying the Taishou secrets xD And yes, maybe? Who knows**__**, hehe.**_

**Guest 2:**_** Yep! Miyasha's backstory is low-key inspired by the ANY fanfic "After Dusk"! I've been following it since its first chapter was published and kind of started writing this fanfic just after they had updated it back then once, lol. Good one at noticing that!**_

**_And that's all for this chapter, folks! Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!_**

**_Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D_**

**_Stay safe and stay healthy!_**


	37. Chapter 34

"I apologize for troubling you, Tomioka-san."

Tomioka looked at me from the corner of his eyes as I apologized, his dark blue orbs staring with emotions I wasn't yet used to reading.

He didn't say anything as he looked forward again, his walking speed almost same as mine as we passed down the empty streets.

_'It's a beautiful day, today.' _I thought absent-mindedly as I looked around the forest nearby; I could even hear the birds chirping, if I concentrated enough.

It was indeed a beautiful day. A good day to go outside for a mission before my overprotective seniors showed up and whined to take them with me.

_'Thank goodness, Oyakata-sama allowed me to go today.' _I thanked him internally as my eyes roamed around the scenery, before stopping at the man with the mismatched haori beside me, _'Though, it would've been better if he had sent Rengoku with me instead.'_

Not that Tomioka was a bad person or that I didn't want him to come with me; it just would've been much more easier if Rengoku was here since I wouldn't have to worry if he was currently on _the _train or not.

_'Though, I still think it's a bit too early for that mission to pop in yet.' _I thought as Shiori hoot-ed on from my shoulder.

"_Hoo, hoo!_" Shiori nuzzled her beak softly against the base of my lower jaw, making me chuckle at the brush of her tickling feathers on my neck.

"Hai, Shiori~?" I called her name in a sing-song voice as her tangerine's orbs blinked at me innocently, "Do you need anything, sweetie?" She hoot-ed back at me, making my lips stretch into an involuntary smile.

"Ah, do you wanna fly now?" I asked off-handedly as she spread her wings a bit, "Souka, souka! Then go ahead, Shiori! Just don't fly too far away, sweetie." I call out as she took off from my shoulder — somehow meticulously avoiding to injure me with her somewhat sharp nails.

_'Such a magnificent creature...' _I mused lovingly as I kept walking while staring at the white fluff flying in the sky just above us.

I turned my gaze back towards the silent man beside me, his blue ocean eyes staring back at me with emotions I wish I could read.

_'What are you thinking, Tomioka?'_

"I apologize for my behaviour, Tomoika-san." I apologized again, giving him a sheepish smile as I adjusted the strap of the satchel on my right shoulder.

He didn't reply anything, but something shifted in his eyes — something that I didn't yet learn to read. Was it amusement or his usual indifference? I sure didn't know.

"Tomioka-san..." I started once silence had befallen between us two again, "May I ask you a question, if you don't mind?" I asked hesitantly as I contemplated if I really should ask what I was about or not.

Tomioka didn't give any verbal or physical confirmation that he heard me, but I knew he did.

_'After all,' _I thought wryly, _'I have dealt with brooding people like him before.'_

Though, it was a lifetime ago. Literally.

"Assuming your silence as an affirmation," I continued, "I will continue with my question; I was wondering that, um, did you ever... were you following me for the past few years?"

Tomioka turned to me with an almost quizzical look before tilting his head slightly in the right, making me immediately elaborate my question, "I mean, I... I actually felt your aura quite a few times during my," I stumbled as I try to find the appropriate term for my nightly endeavours, "Uh, my _missions_. That's why I wanted to enquire if it was your aura I felt... or not."

"Yes." He simply replied, making me blink at the suddenness.

"Y-Yes?"

"Yes," he surprisingly added, "Oyakata-sama asked me to look after you."

"Oh." That... actually made sense.

_'That would explain why I felt his aura so frequently during my hunting sessions.' _Not to mention his warm wave like aura was very hard to miss.

_'And here I thought I had successfully avoided the Demon Slayer Corps for the past few years.' _An ironic smile stretched upon my lips at my ironic thought. My life was nothing more than a series of ironic events.

"So, you knew about my existence way before all this, eh?" I asked rhetorically, to which Tomioka hummed back in reply, "What about the other Hashiras? Did they—" He didn't even need to reply as his stare answered it enough.

"W-Wait, all the Hashiras knew about me before the meeting?" I asked in surprise as I thought back to when my identity was revealed.

_'But... everyone looked genuinely surprised at it though— why would they pretend to be surprised in the first place anyway, if it was not genuine?'_

"Not everyone." Tomioka replied as we gradually exited the forest area.

"Then who? Shinobu?" I blurted out in annoyance before it clicked in— of course Shinobu will know. She was the head of the Kakushis, and poisons were right up her alley. Not to mention it'll explain a lot about her behaviour towards me as well.

_'Even a blind person could see how she was favouring me more than anyone else.' _I nodded to myself as I noticed a town on the horizon of our path.

"Thank you for answering my questions, Tomioka-sen—" I stumbled upon my words once again, as I almost used the wrong honorific before I took a split second decision and blurted out, "Can I call you senpai, Tomioka-san?"

He looked at me for a few seconds before vaguely nodding, making me smile brightly at him and thanking him again.

_'Thank goodness he didn't mind... and technically he is my senpai though.'_ I tried to convince myself, trying desperately to cover up the real fact I slipped up like that, _'Now just play cool, and don't scare him away, Miyasha, please.'_

"Oh and thank you for saving me from that demon in the mountain mission, Tomioka-senpai." I thanked again as we kept walking towards the approaching town, "I wouldn't be alive here, if it weren't for you. Also, thank you for what you did for Tanjiro and Nezuko— it means a lot to us."

Tomioka didn't reply back anything this time either; instead, almost deliberately turning his gaze away from mine as the town came into our clear view.

_'Did I...' _my brows creased again as an almost awkward silence engulfed the atmosphere between us, _'Did I embarrass him?'_

_'Nah, you're overthinking it, Miyasha.' _I shook my head, focusing back on the task on hand, _'Let's just avoid assuming anything since I can't read jackshit from him yet.' _I nodded to myself before going back to mentally enlisting the people I had to visit and the information I needed to collect.

_'Hopefully we have some proper lead on Muzan this time.'_

* * *

"Moshi, moshi?" I loudly called out as I softly tapped my knuckles on thick wooden doors of the traditional Japanese house. Tomioka stood behind me; his eyes taking in every detail of the house in front of us.

My eyes roamed around the yard as well, looking for the familiar face of my favourite policeman as the rays of the setting Sun bounced off the wooden panels of the house.

"Moshi, moshi? Is anyone here—"

"Miyasha?" A familiar rough voice called out my name, making a small smile bloom on my lips as I turned towards the old man.

"Good evening, Yamaga—"

"Oh God, kid, you're alive?" Was the first thing he said as he almost sprinted towards me; his expression etched with a mixture of worry, relief and happiness that made my heart soar with warmth.

"I-I am." I hesitantly replied, feeling at a loss of words.

"Where were you, kid?" The older man bluntly asked, his eyes scanning through my whole body; as if to check for injuries, "Did something happen to you? You were out for almost two months and everyone thought you... That you..."

"I'm so sorry for worrying you all like that..." I sincerely apologized, smiling sadly at the sweet man in front of me, "I actually got mixed up... in a few things and that ended up with me being detained with some very heavy matters to decide on. Trust me when I say I'm completely fine, okay? I apologize for worrying you all like this — especially you. Please forgive me, Yamagata-san."

"I'm just glad you are safe and sound." Yamagata replied, a serene smile playing on his lips as he gently patted my head, "You sure did scare us good, kid."

"I sincerely apologize for that..."

"Well, an apology won't do—" his eyes trailed back in the direction of Tomioka, "I want to know all about your little _detainment _and whatever you might know about, well, _**him.**_"

"I understand." I nod taking a step back and slightly turning towards Tomioka to introduce him, "This gentleman here is, uh, one of the best demon slayers in the Corporations and is currently on a mission with me. We can trust him with any kind of information; so, no need to filter out our chat in front of him."

Tomioka blankly stared at me while Yamagata's eyes snapped back to me, "Demon slayer?" He asked, his brown eyes staring into my bluish-violet ones, "I thought you were avoiding them?"

"Haha," I nervously laughed as I felt Tomioka's gaze intensify on the back of my head, "Well... seems like I couldn't avoid them for long?"

Yamagata stared at me intently, as if trying to find something on my face.

"Well, come inside then." He finally offered, his eyes finally trailing off from me to Tomioka standing behind me, "It'll be better if we talk about these matters privately."

"Indeed." I agreed before taking another step back, "Although, I hope you won't mind if I call in my little friend?" I asked rhetorically before taking out my whistle and blowing.

I watched amusingly as the older man's eyes widened when Shiori landed on my stretched arm in all her white feathered glory; his mouth opening and closing for a good few minutes before he started speaking again.

"An... An owl?!" Yamagata exclaimed, his brown eyes meeting the bird's tangerine ones, "Wait, how did you even..."

"I'll answer it all inside, how about that?" I answered cheekily as I opened the entrance and entered; all the while the policeman stared at me utterly confused.

.

…

"You sure haven't change a single bit there, kid."

"Of course, why would I?" I genuinely asked back as I sat down in the spacious living room, noticing the warm decorations of the house, "It's been quite a while since I visited, didn't I?"

"You were quite little back then too," Yamagata cheekily replied as he handed me and Tomioka a cup of tea each, "All innocent and worried with a level of sarcasm hard to handle."

"I'm sorry you couldn't handle me, Yamagata-san~"

"I still can't." He huffed back jokingly, his eyes softening as he added, "I made black tea for you, just the way you prefer it."

"Thank you so much, Yamagata-san!" I genuinely thanked before drinking the warm beverage; its content making my cold body warm from the inside, "It tastes phenomenal!"

"I'm glad you liked it." He said as he settled in front of us, his eyes momentarily shifting towards my little avian partner before coming back to us, "Now, let's begin with the questions— where were you for these past few months?"

"I met a demon hunter while I was on one of my outings." I started, deciding to keep things vague and short as his eyes moved to Tomioka before moving back to mine, "Not him; someone else." I intentionally kept out mentioning anyone's name— including Tomioka's as I gave him an overview of the timeline.

"So, you've joined the Demon Slayer Corps, now?" Yamagata finally asked after I finished my explanation, "Wouldn't they mind you... uh, giving this information out?"

"Well, not really." I answered honestly as I took a sip from my cup, "I didn't exactly give you any major information to jeopardize the Corporation in the first place; not to mention just because the Japanese government doesn't acknowledge this organization doesn't means they are not aware of it."

"Well, that's true." The older male sighed as he leaned back, "We are just ignoring the existence of demons to not raise any panic among the general public... especially with all the political changes happening in the recent times."

"Agreed." I replied as I finished my tea, "That's why it's now our duty to hunt and finish them down. Your department has helped in it a lot too, if I were to be honest."

"Not near enough, kid." Yamagata huffed, "Not near enough."

"Well, that is our job." I met his stubborn brown eyes with my own, "And I'll appreciate if you... leave us to it as well."

His eyebrows creased as he looked at me quizzically, "What do you mean?"

"Well," How should I put it? "Many of the slayers from our corporation are listed under the 'criminals' category in the police files; even when all they did was eliminate the creature who actually caused the deaths."

"You want me to erase those records?" Yamagata asked in a scandalized tone, "You know I can't do that, right? The higher ranks will—"

"—Will kill you if you did," I completed for him, "I know. That's why all I'm asking you to do is pass on a letter from me to the higher ups about it. If needed, I'll approach them myself about it as well."

"But why—"

"Because it hinders the work for us when we are literally trying to save lives." I interrupted him immediately, "Not to mention, it would be getting even worse from now on since demons are becoming active as never before."

"...I understand that but," He sighed as he brushed his hand through his short hair, "Okay, I'll talk. Or give the letter— whatever you want me to do. Just make sure you have written it in a formal way, please."

"Of course!" I gave him a toothy grin before moving onto the next topic: Muzan.

"Anyway, any information on Muzan?" I could feel Tomioka perk up at my mention of the demon, "And also his family and colleagues?"

"We successfully relocated his family before anything happened." Yamagata informed serenely, making a huge weight lift off my heart, "His 'colleagues' are kept an eye on and investigated as well. Unfortunately, that bastard ain't anywhere around to be seen."

"Eh, that was to be expected." I lightly caressed the adolescent snow owl sitting on my lap, "He ran away the moment he was found out. Now, he is laying low by hiding in some other form of his."

"You know where he is?" The older man bluntly asked, his eyes gleaming in a strange way.

"Unfortunately, no." I answered honestly, "But I am working with the whole corporation on it, this time. We will surely find him and eliminate him as soon as possible."

"That sounds very optimistic of you, kid." Yamagata deadpanned as he moved to take my empty cup, "Never heard you being this sure about anything before."

"Really?" I blinked in surprise, was I that cynical?

"Of course." He bluntly replied before getting up, "Anyway, I'll bring you the papers—"

"Wait, I had more questions~!" I whined as he huffed and shook his head, his eyes holding that soft annoyance I was so used to seeing.

"Just read the damn papers and you'll know everything you need to."

"Aw..." I pouted as he carried Tomioka's cup as well, "I thought you cared about me~"

"Don't be a brat, kid."

"So mean!" I heard him chuckle as he left the room to clean up, making a grin appear on my lips.

_'I'm glad he is laughing again.' _Especially after all the worrying he did for me.

My heart warmed again as I thought back to his worried expression, a strange calmness washing over me as I realized I had many people to look after me.

I was blessed, to say the least.

"Oh wait, I forgot to tell you about something!" I immediately called out, "His daughter is completely human!"

"What?" Yamagata rushed in the room as he asked again what I meant by that.

"Me and senpai," I lightly gestured towards the indifferent senpai of mine, "Had actually visited Rei's town the day before yesterday. Rei might have been with a child from her previous fiancé before she married Muzan."

"You sure?" He sceptically asked as he crossed his arms, "I mean, is that from a reliable source?"

"Yes, it is." I nodded along as I continued, "I cannot tell you the source though; so, you might have to take my word for it."

"As usual, of course." The brown-eyed man shook his head in exasperation as he continued, "Anyway, anything else you would like to discuss?"

"Mmhm!" I raised my hands to show Shiori to him, "This is my partner, Shiori! She will be the one delivering my messages to you from now on."

Yamagata stared at Shiori for a few minutes, his eyes fixed at her tangerine orbs as the avian tilted her head animatedly.

"You sure she is reliable?"

"Yep!" I grinned at him as I patted my adorable little white friend, "She might look small, but is very reliable!"

"Ah, like you then."

"Hey! I'm not small!"

He huffed as he left the room again, "You sure about that, kid?"

"It's not my fault you all are gigantic!" I quipped back, shaking my head as Shiori hoot-ed back at me.

"He is actually one of my oldest informants." I started without any moment's notice, making Tomioka blink in confusion as I turned to him, "That's why we are so casual with each other, if you were wondering."

Tomioka didn't reply (as usual) but did nod as he looked down at Shiori in between my small palms.

"I brought us in here so that Shiori can memorize the path." I said further as I caressed my little ball of feathers, making the said ball nuzzle back, "I apologize for how long this mission is turning out to be."

Tomioka shook his head, making me smile at how he relaxed he was around me. Well, we have been travelling together for about four days now— it was bound to happen sometime.

"Thank you so much for your help, Tomioka-senpai. You have no idea how much this means to me." Especially since he didn't ask many questions and followed my lead without any hesitation. His calm and unwavering company was almost like a drug to me at this point— not to mention his warm aura made me feel even more comfortable than I already was.

Tomioka looked away from me once again, his eyes shifting towards the decorations on the several cabinets in the room rather than my own self.

_'Is he embarrassed?'_ I thought not for the first time as he did so, _'Or does he simply not want to talk about it?'_

Well, with him, I was never sure.

I mean, reading him was very difficult due to how inexpressive he was most of the time, and since I wasn't yet used to his emotional and physical cues, I couldn't read his body language that well either.

Out of all the Hashiras, Tomioka was the one that actually felt the most difficult to read— despite having one of the most vivid auras I've ever felt. But even that didn't help since his aura was almost always calm and stabilized.

"Here's the papers," Yamagata's voice suddenly rang throughout the room, making me almost jump as I turned to face the old man standing at the door frame, "These are all the official news on him, though. We don't exactly have anything on the unofficial news regarding him, though."

"Ah, that's still a lot. Thank you so much for your help, Yamagata-san!" I thanked him as he handed me the bundle of loose papers, all of which consisted of the written paperwork of relocation and protection the people previously connected to Muzan.

"You said you didn't had any unofficial news on Muzan right? What about any other demons? Are there any strange happenings going around recently?" I asked off-handedly as I went through the papers, my eyes skimming over the details as Yamagata listed off any strange ones he got to know about.

"Well, there has been some activity noticed in red district area since the past month— even more than before, actually." He rubbed his chin as he tried to remember the incidents, "Too many reported deaths; most of them being suicidal in nature."

"Hm, interesting. Are there any more other than that?"

"Yes, there's this rumour of a train—" my heart skipped as he mentioned the Infinity train, "-where the passengers travelling in it are supposedly going missing. We sent in a few of our officers a week before and they haven't returned back yet. No one is sure what is going on about it though."

"I'll highly suggest you to leave that case alone then."

"What?" His eyes snapped back to me, "Wait, you know something about it, don't you?"

"Well, I do." I shifted my position a bit, feeling very uncomfortable and cold all of a sudden, "There might be a demon involved in that and one of my seniors is going to see to it for now."

"Ah, I understand." He nodded, "What about the red district one? We did lay it off there as you had instructed us but the cases there has been nothing but increasing now."

"Give me a month or two for that, and the threat will be eliminated till then."

Yamagata looked sceptically at me, "You are gonna look after it?"

"Maybe," I vaguely answered, "Or I'll ask my seniors to look into it instead."

"Well, I'll be taking your word on that then." He left at it when he noticed how I wasn't going to elaborate anymore on that, "What about you? Do you have anything else you think will be useful to us?"

"I'm afraid not." I shook my head as I spoke, "At least not for now. I'll send you any news as soon as I come across it. I'll also suggest you to look forward to some more _cases _in the upcoming weeks, if not days."

That alerted the older male, "How big will it be?" He asked, his eyes turning sharper as I shrugged.

"I'm not exactly sure, but it will be big. I'll highly suggest you to keep some paramedics on high alert too, as you may need their assistance as well."

Yamagata nodded as he straightened his back, "Should we also be looking forward for some people's anonymity to be maintained?"

"Hopefully not." I sighed, trying to calm down my tensed body, "Any slayers in the vicinity might be removed by that time and even if they are not, please just treat them as normal people and ignore any weapons on them. It'll be helpful for all."

"Duly noted." He nodded as his eyes shifted to look outside the window adjacent to us, "It's already late outside." Yamagata stated as noticed the moon out among the evening clouds, "You both want to stay in?"

"Thank you for your generous offer, Yamagata-san, but we already have a place we are currently staying at." I smiled kindly as I thanked the generous man, "Not to mention I won't want to disturb you and your wife here."

"Ah, that explains the lack of your old white bag that you carry around." I grinned as he shook his head in exasperation, "And as for my wife, she is at her mother's house for now; so, you staying here won't be an issue."

"Wait, what?" His last statement sent alarms in my head, "Is she okay? What happened?"

"Don't worry, she is fine." He brushed off my worries as he elaborated, "She is just with a child; so, she decided to—"

"_Wait a second,_" I interrupted him, my eyes comically widened as I processed what I heard, "Your wife is with a _**child?!**_"

"Well, yes?"

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"You were out for two months; how did you expect me to contact you?" He shot back, "You didn't even arrive for our bi-monthly meeting in Asakusa!"

"Oh, that's... true. Sorry." I rubbed my neck sheepishly before jumping up, "But still! You could have told me before! I could have brought some gift or something— oh, wait, how many months along is she? What names did you decide? Oh, and do you need any help?"

"Calm down, kid, let me at least answer one first!"

* * *

_'Ugh, I can't sleep.' _  
I tossed around in my futon, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep but my cold limbs just made it uncomfortable for me to do so.

_'Not to mention sleep isn't coming to me anyway.'_

I sighed as I got up, rubbing my cold fingers against each other as I blew warm breath on them.

It was almost midnight right now, I really should be sleeping since I could get next to no sleep for the last two days and yet, here I was, unable to do so as I got out of my futon and decided to roam outside.

I sighed again once I left my room; the moon looked beautiful from the open hallway and I couldn't help but admire it as I sat down on the edge of the porch.

After staying at the Wisteria mansion, the previous month, I got into this strange habit of appreciating the stars and moon that I never properly did before.

Maybe because I was too busy? Or was I just ignorant? Who knows?  
All I did know was that I loved the view and the similarities it had from my old world; I could look at it for hours and forget where I was and what situation I was in.

The moon had an almost calming effect on me; and I preferred to have it that way.

My heart skipped a beat when I felt his warm aura near me; his ocean eyes staring at my figure from the door frame of his room across the hallway.

His eyes met mine in the most natural way of communication; asking me silently for what I was doing there at this time of the night.

He approached me slowly once I didn't reply him; his eyes taking in the night sky just as I had.

"Sorry," I apologized once he reached me, keeping my voice soft as to not disturb the other residents, "I couldn't sleep."

Tomioka nodded as he sat down beside me, his warm aura radiating through his body instantly relaxing my figure.

"Why?" He bluntly asked, making me blink at his suddenness.

"E-Eh?"

"Why can't you sleep?" He asked softly, his serene yet deep voice just low enough to make a shiver go down my spine.

_'How the hell can someone's voice make me feel cold?'_

"It's cold." I simply answered, blowing on my cold digits as he looked at me strangely.

"Cold?"

"Yep."

"Then why are you sitting outside?"

"Because it's not cold outside."

"..." Tomioka completely turned towards me gave me the flattest look I ever saw on him, making me burst out in laughter as he kept staring at me.

I pressed a hand against my lips to muffle my laughter, still feeling his eyes on me as my body quaked with laughter.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized as my laughter subsided, the residue of it still present in my voice, "But the look you gave me was really funny! I couldn't help it."

Tomioka just stared at me as I laughed some more— this time way softer than before.

"Anyway," I continued as I calmed down from my fit of laughter, "I actually feel more cold since my limbs oddly can't retain any heat properly, making me feel very uncomfortable as I try to sleep at night." He nodded as I finished explaining, "That is why I actually prefer sleeping in the sunlight."

Tomioka nodded again, his eyes glued to my hands as I blew on them.

"Hm?" I blinked as he offered me his hand, "I... what?"

He lightly shook his hands again, looking at me unexpectedly as gave my hands into his—

_'Oh Lord, his hands are so huge!' _I thought absent-mindedly as his warm hands rubbed my cold ones, his eyes intently focused on the task.

God, he was innocent.

Once he was done warming my hands, he respectfully left them and looked up at me; his blue eyes looking into mine as if asking whether I felt warmer now.

"Thank you so much, Tomioka-senpai!" I smiled kindly at the little innocent bun, my heart warming up as he proceeded to ask if I could go sleep now.

"If only it was this easy, senpai~" I jokingly touched his warm cheeks, making him flinch as he felt my already freezing hands.

He nodded dejectedly as he understood my dilemma, making me desperately want to pat him.

But before I could do anything like that, he scooted near me and looked back up at the sky.

I proceeded to do the same; staring at the moon and the twinkling jewels beside it as the night turned darker with every passing hour.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I asked off-handedly as my eyes slowly began to feel heavy— his addicting warm aura making me feel warmer and safer than I ever did in the night hours.

Tomioka kept staring the moon instead of replying; his eyes focused on the ball of reflection as mine started drooping while I sat there, basking in the warmth of his aura.

I desperately tried to keep my eyes open and yet, how or when I fell asleep, I didn't know.

All I did know was that I felt someone carrying me to bed and the warmth that I felt never left.

* * *

_**And here's the next chapter! After months of unexpected hiatus xD**_

_**I'm so sorry for that and I no have excuses except that my college assignments and online exams had swamped me!**_

_**I'm also supposed to have my offline exams of both this and the previous semester by 19th of this month; so, please, do have patience with me! I have the whole book planned and I know exactly what will happen next but just the typing time takes me out of it xD**_

_**Anyway, I really hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! The next one will be in Giyuu's perspective and will be a continuation of this before we move to our next arc!**_

_**》**__**Taishou Secret**__**《**__  
__**The Kinomiya twins are about 6 feet and 2 inches tall, making them the third tallest of Hashiras after Himejime and Uzui! Miyasha, on the other hand, is only 5 feet and 1 inch tall! Almost an inch taller than Shinobu and a head smaller than the twins!**_

_**Now, onto our review replies!**_

**Guest1****:**_** Well, we can see how her mere presence is changing things and will keep doing so, but it is her who has to face the consequences and thus, she is scared. Though, her acceptance will slowly come through as well, don't ya worry.**_

**Einklley****:**_** I'm so sorry for this late chapter xD and I'm really glad ya find the last one good! And I'm also glad you liked the Rengoku part xD There will be many more like that in the future, so I hope ya keep an eye out for them, lol. And about the next arc; it'll be difficult to actually make any… 'unique' entry per se, but I'm more focused on the butterfly effect at that than anything. His 'fate' will change, and I hope ya won't be disappointed with my version of it.**_

**Tsuki****:**_** Thank you so much for your reviews and I hope you like this chapter as well!**_

**NihthKuro****:**_** I'm glad you like the dynamic! Thank you so much for your kind review! ^^**_

**Guest2****:**_** Yep! Her spy network is extensive— and all of that because she has the knowledge and ability to back up her claims of the future! And I absolutely agree! The only thin g she can do now, is to go forward! No turning back! Hopefully she sees it that way too xD**_

**The Below Average****:**_** Your kind review almost made me cry, I swear. TwT Y'all are too sweet to me! I'm really glad you like this fanfic and hopefully I can uphold your expectations well enough in the future as well!**_

**SpringSugar****:**_** I'm really glad you liked the story! I sincerely hope no manga references in this fanfic confused you! I'll try to keep things simple and fairly detailed for my anime watching readers as well!**_

**Guest3****:**_** I'm so sorry for my absence, dearie! TwT I'm safe and healthy and I sincerely hope so are you! Thank you so much for checking up on me!**_

_**And that's all for this chapter, folks! Thank you so much for your reviews! You all are too kind to me TwT I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well!**_

_**Oh also, check out my other book on KNY named **__**The Typo Pillar**__** for a short, crack-fic with male OC and **__**Sinful KNY pics**__** (on wattpad) for some collection of hot fanarts that I had!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


	38. Chapter 35

He noticed how hard she tried to stay awake while sitting beside him; he also noticed when her body finally gave in, slumping on his shoulder in the drowsy state she was.

Which, if he were to be honest with himself, he didn't mind. Not one bit.

Giyuu turned his head slightly to notice the sleeping figure beside him; the moonlight making her soft features look even more delicate.

He wondered what he should do now— should he carry her to her bed or just sit here till she wakes up? Leaving her here would be considered bad, wouldn't it?

Giyuu sighed as he looked back up at the starry night.

Social etiquettes were something he was not comfortable with— largely due to his lack of knowledge in that field, especially during more informal of times like this one.

He didn't know if he should just wake her up or carry her to her room or just leave her there; he was not used to this type of interactions which didn't help him either.

Giyuu tilted his head to look at her sleeping figure again, noticing how tired she actually looked. He had noticed how she skipped sleeping the past few days, working on her medicines and paperwork instead.

Once or twice he had thought about asking her if she needed any assistance, but hesitated to do so as he lacked any kind of knowledge to actually help her with anything.

Useless, like he always was.

Miyasha suddenly curled up, making him blink in surprise as she almost cradled his arm while she slept beside him.

Giyuu's eyes softened as he stared at her small, curled up form. Maybe he should carry her to her bed— it'll be a much more comfortable place than the wooden floor of the porch.

With that decided, Giyuu proceeded to slowly stand up; trying his best to not disturb her sleep as he gently scooped up her small frame in his arms.

And while he did so, he couldn't help but notice how small she was compared to him— even her hands were barely half of his size.

She had such a small frame and yet, he never felt her being as such— her loud and bold nature making up for what her stature lacked.

He still remembered the first time he had seen her; accidentally brushing paths with her younger self just after she killed a demon. He initially hadn't thought much of her, assuming her to be one of his fellow slayers till he noticed her pouring what seemed like her own _blood _over the demon corpse to clean up the scene.

That was when he knew she was not one of the slayers and neither was she a normal civilian.

Unfortunately, he couldn't intervene before she left— her aura and smell so repressed that he could hardly find her, despite following her out the bloody scene.

However, to his much surprise, it was only the first of many times they crossed paths— many of which he tried to be discreet in, and yet, she somehow always managed to find him; almost catching him red-handed, if it wasn't for his speed. It was only recently did he got to know that she could feel auras and that was the reason she was able to find him so easily.

He shook his head lightly as he dispersed the memories out of his head, focusing back on the present as he quietly opened the sliding door to her room and placed Miyasha gently on her futon.

He tucked her in gently, feeling the eyes of her Kasugai at him from the corner of the room. He looked up and noticed its (her?) orange orbs looking at him intently before turning back to its master.

Brushing that strange occurrence aside, Giyuu attempted to get up and leave before he heard her whimper in her sleep.

He watched she tossed around before curling up again, whimpering and shivering.

Without any hesitation, Giyuu sat down beside her futon and gently took her small fisted hands into his. She stopped whimpering and tossing immediately, opting to curl her body closer to where he sat instead.

He found it almost amusing how her sleepy self behaved like a small child which he didn't particularly mind, if he were to be honest. It was... endearing, if he dare say so. It was almost impossible to imagine her right now as the same woman who had attacked Sanemi in the Hashira meeting.

He noticed as she suddenly curled in even more, cradling his hands once again as she squeezed them between her own palms and her chest.

He felt the blood rush up to his cheeks as she did that, making him remind himself how she wasn't aware of what she was doing since she was asleep.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, focusing instead on thinking about the past few days of the mission. They had collected a good amount of data on the whereabouts of Muzan's previous 'family' and had also managed to get some information about potential demon-infested places.

What surprised him the most was that she had somehow managed to convince the police in giving up any records on possible slayers too— which, unsurprisingly, included his own. She had yet to get the papers in her hands, but her persistence for the whole matter convinced him that she soon will.

All this made him wonder how long she was actually doing this all for. Was it really only four years as she claimed, or was it more? As Giyuu peered at her soft sleeping face, he found himself not exactly caring about the answer either way.

It wasn't like Miyasha was out to harm anyone— in fact, she was helping the corporation more than anything. She didn't seem like the person to betray anyone. She was very kind and understanding too; never pushing him to talk or making jabs at him or poking him to get her answers.

Unlike Kocho.  
A tired expression formed on his face at his own thought, wondering how bad it was that she was the only female he had any proper interaction with— except Miyasha now, of course.

He noticed in his peripheral how the owl had now neared her master's futon and now was looking at him with a tilted head.

Giyuu sighed lightly as he reasoned with himself— Kocho was technically the only female he had the most missions with; and even though Kanroji was there too, he never did interact with her much either. Though, he wished that wasn't the case.

Giyuu shook his head as he remembered some of Kocho's antics, making him feel tired all of a sudden as he recounted all her jabs and remarks.

Though... was she really speaking the truth when she said people hated him?

It confused him a lot when she told him that; he was a simple man and he had never really did anything bad to anyone, then why would people hate him so? Was it because he was not a good slayer? If yes, then they were right to—

"Hoo-Hoo!"  
Giyuu was jolted out of his thoughts as the snow-owl landed on his left arm; the small creature looking at him with his orange eyes as it hoot-ed at him.

"Hoo-Hoo!" The Kasugai blinked twice and tilted its head, as if asking what he was doing here.

Confused on what to do — especially since he was not that good with animals in the first place — he simply nodded towards the only sleeping figure in the room. The owl looked towards her master, and strangely nodded back before snuggling down in the area between him and Miyasha.

Like master, like pet, Giyuu thought as the nocturnal creature snuggled to her master and hoot-ed to her, as if in reassurance.

If there was one thing he had learned about Miyasha in this weeklong mission, it was that she was a very understanding person and very oddly observant when it came to people around her.

She adjusted to his mannerisms and lack of talking pretty well and never forced him to do anything; she instead stepped up to explain without him even asking and didn't mind his lack of social etiquette that he found very liberating, to say the least.

Although, her sudden burst of praises (that he was not yet used to) did leave him flustered here and there, he couldn't bring himself not to be comfortable around her.

He remembered the first day of their mission when they had travelled through the whole night; she had offered him her portion of the meal (rice balls and candied fruits) and kept on asking if he had any issue with anything or was tired or not. He found it very kind of her and was almost not sure how to respond to any of that.

Giyuu's eyes softened as he rubbed her knuckles gently. In fact, he still wasn't sure about how to treat her either.

He was not used to this kind of interaction, but that didn't mean he didn't like it. In fact, her kindness almost reminded him of _**her.**_

His fingers froze as he revaluated his thoughts.

Miyasha... reminded him of his elder sister— kind, generous and so... caring. His lips turned downwards as he thought about his sister, and how he had just... let her die.

He... He didn't deserve anyone kind. He was not worthy. He could've saved so many, and yet he didn't... including Tanjiro's family. He is useless, unworthy, waste of a—

Giyuu blinked as he felt Miyasha's fingers tighten around his hands, her palms giving a soft, almost reassuring squeeze to his own.

"...hoo-hoo-hoo." Her owl nuzzled its beak on his wrist as well, as if reassuring him just like its master was doing. And honestly, it made him smile a little.

He gently took one of his hands from Miyasha's and rubbed the Kasugai's head— just as he had seen its master do so many times before. The owl leaned into his careful touch and nuzzled back, taking in all the affection he was giving.

This made his chest feel lighter; a strange warmness spreading throughout him that he hadn't felt for a long time.

And as he noticed the Sun rays slowly peering through the window, he selfishly hoped he could continue feeling this warmth for a little longer.

* * *

"Oh, good morning, Tomioka-senpai!" Miyasha greeted Giyuu as he came out of his room, his eyes brightening as he noticed how refreshed and cheerful she looked this morning, "How did you sleep last night, senpai?" She asked briskly as she rearranged her satchel over her left arm.

He simply nodded in answer as she fiddled with her satchel; he had left her room before she woke up, finding it better to not tell her that he had stayed up the whole night beside her there.

He knew she wouldn't mind (maybe? he thought as he watched her checking something in her satchel) but he just couldn't find it in himself to tell about it.

Especially how she curled up against him and cradled his hands to her chest.

He had to look away as he felt his face grow warmer, making his mission partner look at him questionably.

"Um, you okay, senpai?" Miyasha asked him bluntly, her eyes portraying the same worry her voice did, "Are you feeling sick or...?"

Giyuu immediately shook his head, thinking how to console her that he's absolutely fine—

"Don't hesitate to tell me if you're not feeling well, okay?" She softly said as she walked up to him in the hallway, her eyes peering into his as she smiled, "You wouldn't be bothering me with anything, got it? Not to mention, I'm technically a doctor; it's my work to look after people, so need to be shy, alright?"

Giyuu nodded again — which he found himself doing a lot around her — as she smiled satisfactorily before listing off things that she had packed.

"—okay, so we have everything with us, right?" She asked rhetorically as she checked her satchel again, "Alright, I think we are ready to be off now! Sorry for the delay I caused." Miyasha grinned sheepishly as she rubbed her neck, her hands brushing past her already shoulder-past hair.

After nodding again, Giyuu started walking out the hallway; Miyasha closely following him as he led her through the hotel. If there was anything that Giyuu had noticed about Miyasha yet, then it was how easily she actually got lost— despite knowing the way, which surprised him a lot initially.

"Tomioka-senpai..." Miyasha started once they left the hotel, "I'm extremely sorry for, uh, last night." She apologized serenely, her eyes scanning the nearby vendors rather than looking at him as she usually did.

Giyuu didn't dare say anything; instead, he looked at her questionably as he knew she would understand his expression.

"I, uh," she stumbled upon her words, "I shouldn't have just fallen asleep like that... thank you so much for taking me to my room too, senpai."

Giyuu stared at the shorter slayer in front of him, her shy expression making him feel something that he really didn't know what to think of.

"Did I," he started, frowning as he tried to interpret her words, "Make you embarrassed?"

He saw her flinch as he finished his question, a set of nervous laughs soon following from her as she replied affirmatively.

"In a way?" She replied unsurely, her eyes still darting away from him which he was not used to seeing, "It's actually, um, I don't normally fall asleep like that..."

He raised an eyebrow as she proceeded to explain her sleeping dilemma, and how she couldn't even sleep properly in the night anymore because of the strange coldness she felt.

"I never had this problem when I was younger," Miyasha admitted as they entered the nearby town, "And I honestly still don't know why this happened, or when it started either."

Giyuu observed the bustling town as she continued, his attention hanging onto her words despite how he looked at the nearby crowd, "I still don't know if it does have any biological reasoning or is just a... well, abnormality of my body. I won't be surprised if it is, though." He noticed Miyasha shaking her head, making him want to console her but he didn't know how, "Regardless, last night was actually surprising for me."

He turned to her as she continued, "As I said before, I'm too used to sleeping in the morning rather than the night. It's only if I'm too exhausted to almost black-out that I can sleep in night... but yesterday, that wasn't the case." Her lips stretched into a small (grateful?) smile, "I think you being near me helped me in that."

Giyuu felt his heart skip a beat at her last statement; did she know that he stayed the night beside her?

"Your warm aura just... made me feel so much warmer and calmer when I was on the porch with you." She admitted as she smiled softly in his direction, "I really believe that helped me fall asleep yesterday, so thank you for that as well, senpai. And please forgive me for burdening you with all this."

Giyuu nodded again as he tried to calm his heart down, his mind processing the fact that she was only talking about the porch and not her room. Why was he nervous about that anyway?

"It wasn't an issue." He managed to get out, before asking about something that caught his attention before, "My warm aura?"

"Oh!" She blinked in surprise, "It's, uh, you actually have, uh, a very warm and, uh, vivid aura!"

He nodded along as she flustered over her words, "I mean, different people have different auras and, uh, yours is actually the first aura that I found that was so... warm and stable and you know, wave like." She suddenly shook her head and started again, "I mean, your aura reminds me of warm ocean waves, you know? The ones that brush against you when you sit along the beach side. Warm and wavy and so... comforting."

"Oh," Giyuu blinked in surprise at her description, never expecting his aura to be compared to something like that, "Do you feel everyone's aura near you?"

"Technically, yeah." Miyasha admitted, "But I can ignore them if I want to. I can only feel it vividly if I focus on them."

"Hm," he hummed as he looked at her from the corner of his eyes, while Miyasha opened her satchel slightly to pat her sleeping Kasugai in it.

"I'm sorry if it felt strange." She apologized after a few minutes, rubbing her neck with a sheepish smile as he tilted his head in question, "I mean, it may feel invasive for some people with how I, uh, read people's auras."

Giyuu shook his head, "You cannot stop yourself." He said as they walked towards their last destination; the police quarters.

"Yeah," she let out a sigh before thanking him again, "You are very kind to me, Tomioka-senpai, I swear."

It confused him how she reached to that conclusion, but he didn't question it.

As the police quarters came into their view, the question he wanted to ask her yesterday suddenly popped up in his head.

"Why were you avoiding demon slayers?" He saw her stumble as he finished asking his question, her face looking at him in utter bewilderment.

"W-What? When?"

"The policeman said yesterday that you were avoiding demon slayers before." He explained the context behind his question, noticing how her lips stretched into a half-smile, "Was that true?"

"...yeah." she sighed before continuing, "I actually, uh, didn't want to join the Corps, to be honest."

Giyuu stopped walking as she did, her eyes avoiding his own once again, "I didn't want to be involved in all this and so, had tried to keep away from, uh, the slayers as much as I could."

"Why?" He asked bluntly, still not able to comprehend the reason behind her not wanting to join the Corps despite her doing almost the same work as them.

"Because it meant getting involved with things that I wasn't even meant to be in." She vaguely explained, "I just... I guess I just didn't want to be attached and all."

Giyuu nodded at her vague reasonings; he didn't understand them completely, but he was no one to judge, "Okay." He replied simply as he started walking again.

"Y-You don't mind?" She asked as she caught up to him, her wisteria-coloured eyes meeting his own blue ones as she continued, "I mean, you don't mind my reasoning?"

"It is your choice." Giyuu replied after a beat of silence, thinking about his words again as he continued, "You decide what you want to do; others can only help you or not. My words won't matter in deciding your choice either way."

There was a pause in the conversation before Miyasha softly thanked him, making him look at her as she deeply thought about something he had no clue of.

Hopefully, he didn't say anything wrong.

* * *

The Sun was about the set by the time Giyuu and Miyasha reached the Butterfly Estate, the comfortable silence between them broken by a pair of green and yellow jumping off the Estate walls and slamming into Miyasha even before she stepped in.

"Aniki!" The voices chorused, making the said female chuckle and hug the taller boys with all her might.

"Itsu-kun, Jiro-kun! I'm so glad to see you after so many days!" She exclaimed as she ruffled their hair, both of the boys looking at her with clear adoration, "Where's Ino-chan? Oh, and how did you training go? How's Nezu-chan? Shinobu-san didn't work you too hard, right? And Itsu-kun, did you complete your medication?"

"Matte, matte, Aniki!" Tanjiro good-naturedly halted her questions, answering to them one by one as Zenitsu piped in between with how he was completely fine now and how all of them had finally completed their rehabilitation training.

"I'm so glad to hear that!" She beamed at the boys, caressing them both as she praised them more, "I'm so proud of you both! Well done!"

"Arigato, Aniki!" Tanjiro thanked her energetically while Zenitsu did so shyly.

Giyuu felt a strange ache in his chest as he watched the scene; the feeling of being left out and not belonging running strong in him as he watched those three joined by another loud slayer wearing a boar mask.

Ignoring the strange ache in his chest, Giyuu turned to leave before stopping as he heard Miyasha call out his name.

"Tomioka-senpai!" She hurried to him, her wisteria-coloured eyes almost shimmering in the afternoon rays, "Thank you so much for travelling with me this past whole week!" She bowed as she thanked him, a bright smile stretching upon her lips as she looked into his eyes again, "Thank you so much for everything you did. You have no idea how much it means to me and how much it really helped me."

Giyuu felt his heart skip again; the ache he felt before replaced by the warmth that he was slowly becoming familiar with.

"Oyakata-sama asked me—"

"Oh, just shush and accept the thanks!" Miyasha bounced up on the heels of her feet, a playful expression blooming on her face as she grinned mischievously at him, "No need to be shy with me, senpai~"

Giyuu shook his head and immediately turned away; he knew staying here would only warrant in her praising him unnecessarily and making him embarrassed, which he really didn't want her to see.

However, he could not deny the warmth that he felt when she thanked him or when she turned to him despite others swarming around her.

Neither could he deny not loving her (and Tanjiro) bidding him farewell as he left the Estate.

* * *

_**I didn't die yet, yay!**_

_**Or at least, exams didn't kill me yet, lel. I still have about 8 exams left (1 from my second semester and 7 from my third) that would go till 24th of the month, So, expect chapters a bit slow— however, I really hope to catch speed up after these blasted exams are over.**_

_**Anyway, how did ya like this chapter? Was Giyuu in character? Was the fluff good or was it too fast?**_

_**Do leave a comment about the parts you hate/liked so that I can know xD**_

_**》**__**Taishou Secret**__**《**__  
__**The Kinomiya twins are dog persons! They both love dogs so much while Miyasha is a cat person— she mostly loves all animals but means a bit more towards cats! And the most ironic thing? Cats can't stand the twins; making it even more hilarious for Miyasha whenever she is petting one and the twins are looking at her (or the cat?) with envy.**_

**_Now, onto our review replies!_**

**Einklley****: ****_I'm so glad you approve Giyuu's characterization in the last chapter xD It's a bit hard to keep everyone 'in character' most of the time while showing the slow transition of them turning a bit different with each moment they spend with Miya-chan here! I hope you like this chapter as well; and please do not hesitate to point out any stuff you feel like I can improve on! And about the entrance; the next arc is actually yet to start timeline wise, so I ain't exactly worried for her entrance! What I really am worried about is the whole dynamic she is gonna bring in xD Hopefully that turns out well, lol. Anyway, thank you so much for your review and stay safe and healthy, dearest!_**

**MehScrewIt****:****_ First of all, I love your username! xD And second, I'm so glad you liked the last chappie! I really hope college turns out well for you and you stay healthy and safe! Thank you so much for your support ^^_**

**lizyeh2000****:****_ Thank you so much for the follow and your kind review! I really hope you like this chapter and sorry for my slow updates :(_**

**natonatonii****:****_ I swear to Lord, you're so cute xD I'm so glad you liked the previous chapter and your sweet comment made me smile like a maniac for the whole day! Thank you so much for the support and I really hope you are taking care of yourself too, dearest!_**

**scarletvoid****:****_ Thank you so much for the kind review and I'm really glad you liked that! I sometimes really feel like I'm putting up super-slow romance and people would hate me for it xD_**

**Kayumeee****: ****_Aww, thank you so much for giving my fanfic I chance! And I highly recommend watching the anime/reading the manga up, honey! And I so wish the demon powers/factors in this anime was similar to other animes! Alas, it's very different and thus, I can't ship her with a demon :( But yeah, there's gonna be a lot more fights (and injuries) in the future, so I highly suggest catching up, sweetie! And thank you so much for your kind review! ^^_**

_**And that's all for this chapter, folks! Thank you so much for your reviews!**_

_**Please review if you want to— I love reading from you guys, and honestly, it motivates me like no other :D And do check out my other book on KNY named The Typo Pillar for a short, crack-fic with male OC, if you want to!**_

_**Stay safe and stay healthy!**_


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